VOL. 51 ISSUE 16 APRIL 22, 2014 P21
navigation: I did a really good job. I had tried to
change the first-day strategy, but in the end I've
picked up a very important win that sets me up
nicely for the next few days."
Third place after the opening stage is held by
Coma's Red Bull KTM teammate Jordi Viladoms
– five minutes and four seconds behind Barreda.
Barreda's Honda teammate Hélder Rodrigues
ran into navigation troubles and he ended day one
in fifth. Paulo Goncalves, the leader of the World
Rally Raid Championship and the defending World
Champion, also made a costly navigational error
and finshed day one in sixth.
"I didn't keep a very good rhythm in the rally,"
Goncalves said. "I made a mistake at the begin-
ning of the special and I lost a bit of time. We've
still got more than 1600 kms to go, and I'll try and
make up a bit of the ground that I lost today. The
bike is running like a dream and I'm very confident
about the next few stages."
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
SCHWANTZ RIDES AGAIN
I
f kissing and making up with
the Circuit of the Americas
and starting his new job as two-
wheel ambassador for the track
the week before wasn't enough,
Kevin Schwantz's month of April
got a little better last week when
he got the chance to test both
the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike
and the Suzuki MotoGP bike.
Schwantz did 11 laps on the
new bike, lapping at a best of
2:12.75. Not bad for the near 50
year old.
"I went on the MotoGP ma-
chine after riding the GSX-R1000
Superbike and it felt like going
from a 500cc to a 250cc bike;
the MotoGP machine is so small
and compact," Schwantz said.
"The bike turns, accelerates,
goes fast; it does everything and
I had fun and really enjoyed it.
"With this bike you have power
and braking so you brake and ac-
celerate and the bike does all the
rest. I think Suzuki should race
now - the sooner the better. You
can test a lot but in the race you
really understand. After having rid-
den the MotoGP machine, I now
appreciate much more the GSX-R
and I want to continue to work on
that now to prepare for my race at
Suzuka in July. So tomorrow I will
only ride the GSX-R."
The Suzuki MotoGP test team,
meanwhile, finished its test with
Randy de Puniet lapping at a
best of 2:05.85 after 62 laps of
the 3.29-mile track on the out-
skirts of Austin, Texas.
Marc Marquez's best lap in
the Red Bull Grand Prix of the
Americas was a 2:03.575. If de
Puniet was racing in the Grand
Prix and lapped at a best of
2:05.85 he would have turned
in the 13th fastest lap.
Kevin Schwantz tested the Suzuki
MotoGP bike in Texas last week.
