VOLUME 58 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 2, 2021 P89
about in the press conference that he's
still missing. That's just going to come
with time and confidence.
"I really thought when he did what he
did at the Sachsenring that the entire
paddock was in trouble. [It looked like]
he was getting ready to just punch
them out one after one after one. Bag-
naia and him in Aragon, then Bagnaia
and Quartararo in Misano were just off in the
distance, and he should have been able to catch
them but couldn't do anything with it. It's kind of
settled in. He seemed like a different person in
the press conference on Thursday [in Austin] to
me."
Schwantz certainly knows talent when he
sees it. A revelation of the recent Americas
Grand Prix was the regard which he holds for
current Moto3 title leader Pedro Acosta. The
Circuit of the Americas was a chance for the
Texan to meet the 17-year-old rookie for the first
time, whereupon Acosta revealed his father—Pe-
the front. You really try and push the envelope
and it's so easy for it to sneak up and bite you.
I mean, not just some little lowsides; some real
big, nasty crashes.
"Knock on wood, I'm glad he hasn't reinjured
himself. I think that's been a bit of a punch in
the gut for him and think, 'I need to back off.' I
heard him say in the press conference the other
day, which I was really impressed with, he said,
'I need to get back here 100 percent [points to
shoulder], I need to get back here 100 percent
[points to head], but then I need to find that
extra special thing I had before I got hurt. Being
100 and 100 isn't enough. You've got to be bet-
ter than that to be at the front of this class.' That
made a lot of sense."
So how do you do it as a racer, coming
back from something so jarring? "You've got to
remember you're not at 100 percent," Schwantz
said. "If I got a wrist that's just on the mend,
I've got to not be as aggressive on the brakes. I
have to be more subtle, get my body in position
earlier and use the back of the tank
to keep the pressure off [my wrist],
and I've got to realize in the center of
the corner, if it starts to push then I'm
probably not going to be able to react.
So, I need to make sure I do every-
thing perfect. I work even harder to
get the bike set up.
"I used to try and come back as
quick as I could because I knew two
weeks off, my mind had lost that functional-
ity at 180 mph. I needed to get my head back
there even if I needed to get back, physically. I
felt like a race weekend or two off, my train of
thought was, 'If I was off with an injury for two or
three weeks, it was at least that length of time,
if not double, to get back to where I was when I
hurt myself.
"With Marquez being off for a full season,
he's made an incredible comeback. A lot of
people say he's still struggling physically and
say, 'I can tell he's not at 100 percent.' Well, I
can't tell that. But it's that extra little bit he talked
Marquez is
more tempered,
according to
Schwantz, who
firmly believes the
number-93 will
come back and
win consistently
again.
