World Champion Kevin Schwantz participated in a panel discussion with moto-journalists on Oct. 2 to promote the upcoming AIMExpo motorcycle show in Orlando, Florida Oct. 16-19. Schwantz offered his thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of issues concerning motorcycling and motorcycle road racing. The first part of the panel discussion was published on Oct. 1 on Roadracingworld.com. Below is the remainder of the discussion:
On Suzuki’s potential for success in MotoGP:
“I rode the bike for either 10 or 12 laps on Tuesday or Wednesday after the Grand Prix here at the Circuit of the Americas. Did it seem like an awesome bike? Yeah it did. What I had been riding all morning was basically a stock GSX-R that Yoshimura had done a little bit of work to in regards to suspension and put some slicks on it for me. Compared to a standard road-going bike, it (the company’s MotoGP prototype) seemed absolutely amazing.
“I think that the biggest surprise for me was how good those carbon brakes really are, how much quicker you can get the thing stopped off the end of that back straightaway at COTA that’s … I think just a touch over 200 miles an hour. I see some photos of myself after I’ve ridden the bike and everywhere I look at the pictures, the front wheel’s about eight inches in the air, six inches in the air. And I thought, I don’t remember the bike wheelying there. The electronics have gotten so good on it that as the front wheel comes up, it senses that and it stops the thing going any further with the wheelie. I didn’t ride it long enough or hard enough to be able to tell what the electronics do as far as traction control or things like that.”
“The bike … at the speeds I was riding it, it was awesome. It turned back on itself. It liked staying on its side for a long time. Typically, the Suzukis that I rode, a simple 90 degree turn was all they liked to do. If you had a big long corner where the bike had to turn back on itself, maybe 180 degrees, about halfway around that long corner the bike would really start to run wide, and the only way to finish the corner then was with the throttle.
“Suzuki is as capable as anybody of building a Grand Prix bike. My concern is that they built this bike, they tested it two years ago in Barcelona, they were less than a second off the pace of what everyone had done after racing there and being there all weekend. Suzuki just tested on Monday, was within three-quarters of a second. This year, they go back and do the same test, same track, they’re two and a half seconds off the pace. They need to – the sooner they can get to racing, the less that gap is going to continue to grow. Even waiting through Japan, Australia, everything else that’s got to come before they can get to Valencia, they once again are still losing ground. My take is that they should be at the Japanese Grand Prix in a couple of weeks with a wild card entry. Racing is what they need to do and it’s going to just take time. Is it a year? Is it a two-year effort to find the front or get close to the front again? As restricted as you are on testing, I’m not sure. I know the engineers at Suzuki, I know how capable they are, and I wish them the best, because they’ve got a tough road ahead of them.”
On Suzuki’s MotoGP rider picks:
“I was thinking they’re both really, really young kids. But I just read the other day that Aleix Espargaro is 25! So I guess he does have a bit more experience than Maverick Vinales. I don’t know that there’s two more enthusiastic go-getters out there. Um – spare parts might be an issue. I hope that’s not the case. But you get two kids together who want to try to race like we did when we were kids …
“I think they’re great choices. I just hope Suzuki doesn’t look at it like they want to see some results by the end of next year or the year after. I think they need to look at this long-term and realize the commitment to go Grand Prix racing isn’t easy, and catching up with the tuning forks and Honda is not going to be easy.”
What MotoGP needs:
“To hear that Aprilia’s coming back, I think that’s great. Suzuki’s making their announcement, they’re coming back – I think that’s great. Once again, I think what the class needs, what the premier class, MotoGP needs, it needs more manufacturers involved. We don’t need split classes. We don’t need Open classes and Factory classes. You just confuse the issue with the public when you put somebody else on the podium and they’re like, ‘I never saw that guy at the front of anything! He was running around in ninth or tenth place.’ He was the leader of that class. All the changes coming up to MotoGP, I haven’t kept tabs on that much. Getting two more manufacturers back involved … more bikes, a more complete field, just one class. You just confuse the issue when you’ve got two or three classes running together.”
On any involvement in MotoAmerica:
“I haven’t been asked to be involved. Right now, there’s a few more things on the plate that might happen next year. I’m just kind of waiting it out. I’m going to Japan for the Grand Prix and see what happens at Motegi. I don’t know – maybe we’ll have some announcements of our own to make after that.
“Right after I come back from Motegi, I go to AIMExpo. So maybe there’s another something happening at AIMExpo.”
On owning his own team:
“Nooooo. Everybody’s been making the assumption that Suzuki’s where I’m heading. I wished them good luck and told them they’ve got a tough road ahead of them. I’ve been to Japan a couple of times this year and each time I’ve sat down with Suzuki management and talked to them about what I thought. But as of right now, no plans.”
On Suzuki in U.S. road racing:
“Don (Sakakura) and the guys at Yoshimura are doing all they can with what they’ve got. I think a Superbike needs to be a Superbike. We want to see the exotic stuff. We know World Superbike and MotoGP are where we really need to go if we want to see that, but at the same time …
“I think it’s not easy (for Suzuki to be more competitive in U.S. road racing) especially with all the involvement Yamaha’s had and continues to have, and the support they’re giving. Suzuki’s got a tough road ahead of them in the American championship as well. Roger Lee (Hayden) made a good fight of it this year. The Yamaha guys made some mistakes, left the door open until the last race. I think once again, it comes from the manufacturer and how involved on a global level they want to be and whether internationally Suzuki feels like that the American championship is something to be concerned about again. Maybe just Wayne being involved is enough to get some of those manufacturers back and supporting American Superbike racing.”
On Streetbikes That Make Schwantz Excited:
“I just read about the (Kawasaki) H2R the other day and that thing to me is unbelievable. I haven’t seen a bike that’s created any excitement at all. But I’ve heard – through the grapevine – that a lot of the manufacturers are coming with something really special and that Kawasaki and Yamaha are the brands that are doing it. Suzuki was going to be kind of forced to follow suit, if they haven’t waited too long. But I want to see that H2(R). If that number of 300 (horsepower) is correct, that’s going to be a pretty cool bike.”
More, from a press release issued by Marketplace Events:
Recap of AIMExpo’s Google Hangout with Kevin Schwantz
AIMExpo hosted its first Google Plus Hangout On Air featuring AIMExpo Champion Kevin Schwantz. Taking place at 1:00 p.m. ET on October 2, 2014, the broadcast included memorable moments from Kevin’s illustrious racing career, in addition to Kevin sharing his excitement for the upcoming AIMExpo and a tease about potential news in regards to future plans. If you didn’t get a chance to tune in, we’ve included link below to check out the full broadcast, including the embed code at the bottom of this email.
The full Google Plus Hangout can be viewed by following this link or by clicking on the photo above.