Kevin Schwantz
Houston-born Kevin Schwantz, June 19, 1964, was certainly one of the most talented riders that motorcycling has ever known.
He was introduced to the world and to European competitions by Freddie Spencer, identifying him as a young champion, in need of experience: "If he learns to finish the races he can win five world championships".
From a young age, the American phenomenon did not know half measures and attacked every cm of asphalt with an impressive ferocity, often falling, without concluding the grand prix.
His uncle sent him a strong passion for motocross, compromised by a very serious injury suffered in 1983.
Following this tragic event, he made several "specimens" to join some motorcycle stables.
With Yamaha he ran the Daytona race in 1986, finishing second behind Eddie Lawson, and always riding the same motorcycle he competed bravely in the AMA championship, without however ever winning it.
In the 1988 season, with Suzuki, he won the inaugural Japanese Grand Prix and the subsequent German Grand Prix, but in the final classification he did not go further than eighth place. After the championship season, in November 1988 he won the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, which has been held continuously since 1967 on the dangerous Macau city track. The following year he won six world championship races (those played in Japan, Austria, Yugoslavia, Great Britain and Brazil) but he had to settle for fourth place.
Schwantz gets the nickname "kamikaze pilot" for his impetuosity and little cleanliness in the race.
His driving style, which was affected by his past in motocross, forced him to step on the platform outside the curve, therefore going quickly, but in any case risking the fall: this vocation for spectacularity made him attribute other nicknames, including "impossible pilot".
In 1993, albeit with four first places behind him, he seems destined to be defeated again by Rainey, but an injury happened to his great rival allows him to win easily and become the 500th world champion for the first time.
Schwantz is one of the first sportsmen to have an excellent relationship with the press: no journalist returned home without an interview, and this allowed him to always be defended by the mass media. In 1994 he won two races (in Japan, his favorite circuit, and in Great Britain) but had to give in to Doohan's power. An injury to his right wrist prevented him from ending the 1995 season first and then forced him to retire from professional motorcycling. The retreat was announced in tears at the Mugello circuit.
As a sign of respect, the International Motorcycling Federation has withdrawn its number, 34, from the hulls of the motorcycles participating in the world championship in the premier class.
From 1996 to 2002 Kevin Schwantz devoted himself to the NASCAR championship, running 18 races and winning two. He currently resides in Atlanta where he teaches motorcycle driving techniques in a specialized school.
To this day, in his current role as consultant and image man for Suzuki, Schwantz has maintained his disposition extremely available to journalists and often also to simple enthusiasts.
He often takes part in the press presentations of the Hamamatsu brand, in particular of super sports bikes, taking to the track together with journalists and testers for the inevitable rounds of tests and photo sessions and answering, with extreme patience, all their questions.
