Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126973
Kevin Schwantz is often accompanied bV his father J im at both his races here and abroad. Interview: road raeer Kevin Sehwant: Sileneing the doubters By Henny Ray Abrams and Pau l Carruthers In recent weeks road racer Kevin Schwantz has taken a big step toward quieting those who doubtedhis ability to win. His backto-back AMA/Camel Pro Series National victories at Loudon and R oad Am erica h u shed the doubters , . who have b ~ e n label i rig Schwan t z as Just a no t her cras her. As k Wa yn e R a in e y if Schwantz can win. Schwantz is working toward tu rn ing arou n d a season th at started with a cras h at Da ytona. T he Yoshimura Su zu ki p ilo t was lead ing th e race whe n he did exactly wh at his cr itics fig ured he wo u ld do - he cras he d. It may h ave been a case o f trying too I~ard or it, as Schwa n tz feel s, may have been a matter of being in the wro n g p lace a t th e wrong tim e. " I was just goi ng in arou nd a slower rider," th e 23-year-old Texa n ex plai ned. " Whe n I went in , this is actua lly be fore the ch icane, I dra fted by him an d I guess h e [u m ped back in behi nd me. I stayed u p by the wa ll ki nd o f.late an d wh en I went to co me down h e was in m y lin e going into the corner. So I h ad to wait for hi m to stop a nd gei arou nd th e hay ba les an d at the time h e p us hed m e too close to th em. An d whe n I ca me back to ge t arou nd h im I cl ipped the brak e lever o n th e hay ba les a nd j ust locked u p the fro nt wheel. " The do ub ters sa id Sch wa ntz was worried abou t Ra in ey a nd th e H onda reelin g h im in . " I was watching m y board ," h e sai d. "I h ad go tte n as big as a 17-secon d (lea d), or 18 seco nds, a nd I wa s down as lo w as 12 once. Wh en I ac tua lly fell , m y last p it sign was 14 or 15 seco nds. He might have been ca tch ing me, but it was problably w he n I was getting a bad br eak in traffic and he was ge tti ng a good one , because I wo u ld make up time on him so me la ps an d he'd ca tch m e on so me laps.'.. Wh at ever th e rea sons for th e crash , th e ordea l did little to quiet th e non- bel ievers. Schwan tz bro ke the little fin ger o n h is righ t h and; the finger was p inned a nd Sch wantz rode again at th e T ransa tla nt ic Mat ch Ra ces in Engla n d a nd was the top point scorer for th e winning Am erican squad. Seven weeks after Dayton a h e ra ced at the Spa n ish Grand Prix o n Suzu ki's new 500cc V-four G P b ike. H e finis hed fifth for his best-ever Grand Prix perform a nce. At first th e ha nd bothered h im , ca us in g blisters whe n he rode th e Grand.Prix mach in e. O n hi s Suzuki GSXR750 Superbike, Schwantz comp lained of th e h and fallin g asleep . Now h e sa ys th e p rob lems h a ve ceased . At th e beginning o f th e year, Schwanrz said th e differen ce between winni ng a nd losing th e AMA Superbik e wars would be tires. Rainey wo uld be on Dun lop ra dials with Schwantz us ing Michelin radials. After fin ishing seco nd to Ra iney a t Road Atl a nta a n d Bra in erd , and bea tin g th e factory H onda p ilo t a t Lo u do n a nd R o a d Am eri ca , Schwantz still beli eves the difference co mes down to ti res, "Our bikes ar e pretty close," he said. " Wayne's seems to ha ve a little b it down on the bottom end. I guess . th e V-fo u r has a little bi t m ore grunt righ t off th e co rners. Mine seems to run pretty good up top. H e can' t just run awa y fro m me. The bottom en d helps dr iving out o f th e co rners so he' s ab le to stretch o ut a little b it on the stra ig h taways, but on ac tua l to p speed I th ink o u r bi kes are pretty close." . I Early in th e seas o n, Sch wa ntz tal ked ab out th e advantage a t eac h circ u it. So far his p redictio ns h ave p anned o u t pretty well. " Lou do n will be good for us," h e sa id. " Road Atlanta was p retty good for m e la st year and th e tires seem ed to be wo rk ing p rett y good , but I mi ght n ot ha ve a real big advan tage on h im th ere: Laguna I th ink will be a rea l bi g adva n tage for rne.. Road Am er ica 's n ot rea l h ard o n tires because it 's normally cool u p th ere and the tra ck' s not real abras ive. H e might be good th ere. We a re just go ing to have to see how th e seaso n goes." . Wh en as ked later ab out h is early .sea so n re ma r ks , Sc h wa n tz sa id, " H ow d id I kn ow a ll tha t?" Following his success fu l ou ting in Europe, Sch wa ntz returned to Am erica . H e was beat en a t Road Atla n ta a fter makin g so m e m istak es whil e leading Rainey. At th e fo llowing ro u n d in Br ain erd , Minn esota , Sch wa ntz crashe d a t 160 mph in practi ce a nd fini sh ed seco nd th e n ext day beh ind Rainey. T he n cam e h is first win o f th e season at Loudon. H e fo llow ed th at up with a ' victory a t Road America. . " We 'd been so cl o se a t Ro a d Atla nta a nd so close a t Bra in erd ," Sch wa ntz said. " We 'd been ri ght there but weren ' t ab le to win it . So winning at Loudon took a lot o f th e p ressu re o ff, ge tti ng th at first bi g win. Loudon was good , the bi ke worked good a n d every th ing just went gr eat all weekend. It would have been good to finish Daytona an d not be so many points behind, but it p u ts a lot o f pressu re on Wayne because I'm always go in g to be try ing that much harder to beat him. H e ca n't afford right now to be givi ng m e a n d Do ug (Polen) an d Bubba (Shobert) four p oints every time I beat him. " He's goi n g to h a ve to kee p push ing to stay with me if he h opes to be in th e Camel Pro thing a t the end of th e season . That (win n in g the overa ll Camel Pro Cha mpionship; the co m bined dirt tra ck and road race title), I think, is what his main goal is." .