Kevin Schwantz

Kevin Schwantz (born June 19, 1964 in Houston, Texas) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was the 1993 FIM 500cc world champion.[1][2]

Kevin Schwantz
Schwantz at a demonstration event in 2010
Nationality	American
Born	(1964-06-19) June 19, 1964 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Bike number	34 (retired in honour)
Website	Kevin Schwantz
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1986 - 1995 First race 1986 500cc Dutch TT Last race 1995 500cc Japanese Grand Prix First win 1988 500cc Japanese Grand Prix Last win 1994 500cc British Grand Prix Team(s) Suzuki Championships 500cc - 1993 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 105 25 51 29 26 1236.5

Early life

Schwantz, whose parents owned a motorcycle shop, learned to ride at the age of four.[1] He began his competitive career as a trials rider, following his father and Uncle, Darryl Hurst (the original 34), in that sport.[1] From trials, he progressed to motocross in his teens, becoming a top regional MX racer.[1] After a serious crash in qualifying for the Houston Supercross in 1983, he decided to quit motocross.[1]

Career

At the end of the 1984 season, he was offered a test ride with the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team, who promptly signed the Texan to a contract.[1] In his first race for Yoshimura, he won both legs of the 1985 Willow Springs AMA Superbike National.[1] He finished seventh overall in the championship despite only competing in half the races.[1] He finished second to Eddie Lawson in the 1986 Daytona 200 on the new Suzuki GSX-R750.[1] Then, in what would become an all too common occurrence throughout his career, he broke his collarbone in a qualifying crash and missed several races.[1] Once again he finished seventh overall in the Championship.[1]

The 1987 Superbike National Championship marked the beginning of Schwantz' fiercely competitive rivalry with Wayne Rainey.[1] The two battled throughout the entire season, often coming into contact on the track. Rainey eventually won the National Championship but Schwantz closed the season winning five out of six races.[1] So intense was their rivalry that they continued their battle during the 1987 Trans-Atlantic Match Races in which they were supposedly teammates competing against a team of British riders.[1]

Schwantz began 1988 by winning the season-opening Daytona 200 in what would be his only win in that prestigious event.[3] He then departed for Europe as Suzuki promoted him to its 500cc Grand Prix team where he made an immediate impact by winning the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix in the opening round at Suzuka, Japan; it was only his seventh Grand Prix ride in total, having experienced wild card rides in 1986 on the old square four RG500 and in 1987 on the first version of the V4 RGV500.[1][2]

His archrival, Rainey joined the Grand Prix circuit, signing for the Team Roberts-Yamaha squad.[4] For the next six years, the two continued their intense rivalry on race tracks all across Europe.[2]

Kevin Schwantz, cheering after winning the 1989 British Grand Prix at Donington Park.

The late 1980s and early 1990s are remembered as one of the most competitive eras of Grand Prix racing with a field rich in talent that included Rainey, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola.[5] He was often at a disadvantage in that his Suzukis never seemed to be as fast as those of his Yamaha and Honda mounted rivals. His determination to win at all cost meant that he seemed to crash as often as he won. This trait made him a popular favorite among race fans the world over.[2] His last lap pass of Rainey to win the 1991 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, with his rear tire fish-tailing on the verge of control, typified Schwantz' "do or die" riding style.

Schwantz on the Suzuki RGV500 in 1993

He culminated his career in 1993 by winning his only 500cc World Championship.[2] After suffering through a crash-infested 1994 season, the injuries he had incurred over the years began to take their toll on him,[2] as did the career ending injuries suffered by his rival Rainey, at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Early in the 1995 season, after a conversation with Rainey, Schwantz decided to retire from motorcycle competition.[1][6] Schwantz had accumulated 25 Grands Prix wins during his career, one more than his great rival, Wayne Rainey.[1][4] This made him the second most successful American roadracer behind Eddie Lawson. In a display of respect, the FIM retired his racing number (34) as a testament to his popularity.

In the late 1990s, Schwantz ran a couple of seasons of the Australian NASCAR Championship before returning home to the United States where he competed in the NASCAR Busch Series, running 18 races with two top tens, and touring car races.[1] Schwantz was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.[1] The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.[7]

Schwantz co-designed the Circuit of the Americas racetrack with Tavo Hellmund and German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke.[8]

Schwantz has operated a riding school since circa 2001 in Birmingham, Alabama.[9]

Other appearances

In 2003, he was featured in the motorcycle racing documentary film, Faster.

In 2011, he rode Marco Simoncelli's bike in his honour in Valencia, Spain.

In 2017, he made a guest appearance on Jay Leno's Garage. / Season 3, Episode 10 - Jay Leno's Garage, CNBC: Wednesday, 8/23/2017, 10P ET/PT

Awards

He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2019.[10]

Grand Prix career statistics [2]

Points system from 1968 to 1987

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1988 to 1992

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	20	17	15	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1993 onwards.

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	25	20	16	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Number	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
1986	500cc	Suzuki RG500	Rizla Suzuki	34	4	0	0	0	0	2	22nd	–
1987	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Heron Suzuki	34	3	0	0	0	0	11	16th	–
1988	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Pepsi Suzuki	34	14	2	4	0	2	119	8th	–
1989	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Pepsi Suzuki	34	15	6	9	9	8	162.5	4th	–
1990	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	34	15	5	10	7	6	188	2nd	–
1991	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	34	14	5	8	5	4	204	3rd	–
1992	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	34	12	1	3	1	1	199	4th	–
1993	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	34	14	4	11	6	2	248	1st	1
1994	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	1	11	2	6	1	3	169	4th	–
1995	500cc	Suzuki RGV500	Lucky Strike Suzuki	34	3	0	0	0	0	34	15th	–
Total					105	25	51	29	26	1236.5		1

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
500cc	1986–1995	1986 Nederlands	1988 Japan	1988 Japan	105	25	51	29	26	1236.5	1
Total	1986–1995				105	25	51	29	26	1236.5	1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pos	Pts
1986	500cc	Suzuki	ESP	NAT	GER	AUT	YUG	NED Ret	BEL 10	FRA Ret	GBR	SWE	RSM 10					22nd	2
1987	500cc	Suzuki	JPN	ESP 5	GER	NAT 8	AUT	YUG	NED	FRA 9	GBR	SWE	CZE	RSM	POR	BRA	ARG	16th	11
1988	500cc	Suzuki	JPN 1	USA 5	ESP Ret	EXP Ret	NAT 4	GER 1	AUT 4	NED 8	BEL Ret	YUG	FRA 3	GBR Ret	SWE 12	CZE Ret	BRA 3	8th	119
1989	500cc	Suzuki	JPN 1	AUS Ret	USA 2	ESP Ret	NAT Ret	GER Ret	AUT 1	YUG 1	NED Ret	BEL 2	FRA 2	GBR 1	SWE Ret	CZE 1	BRA 1	4th	162.5
1990	500cc	Suzuki	JPN 3	USA Ret	ESP 3	NAT 2	GER 1	AUT 1	YUG 2	NED 1	BEL 7	FRA 1	GBR 1	SWE Ret	CZE Ret	HUN 3	AUS Ret	2nd	188
1991	500cc	Suzuki	JPN 1	AUS 5	USA 3	ESP Ret	ITA 7	GER 1	AUT 3	EUR 4	NED 1	FRA 4	GBR 1	RSM 2	CZE 5	VDM 1	MAL DNS	3rd	204
1992	500cc	Suzuki	JPN 3	AUS 4	MAL DNS	ESP 4	ITA 1	EUR 4	GER 2	NED Ret	HUN 4	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	BRA 7	RSA 5			4th	199
1993	500cc	Suzuki	AUS 1	MAL 3	JPN 2	ESP 1	AUT 1	GER 2	NED 1	EUR 3	RSM 2	GBR Ret	CZE 5	ITA 3	USA 4	FIM 3		1st	248
1994	500cc	Suzuki	AUS 4	MAL 6	JPN 1	ESP 2	AUT 2	GER 2	NED 5	ITA 3	FRA Ret	GBR 1	CZE 7	USA	ARG	EUR		4th	169
1995	500cc	Suzuki	AUS 5	MAL 4	JPN 6	ESP	GER	ITA	NED	FRA	GBR	CZE	BRA	ARG	EUR			15th	34

References

1. "Kevin Schwantz at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
2. "Kevin Schwantz at MotoGP.com". motogp.com. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
3. "Daytona 200 winners". motorsportsetc.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
4. "Wayne Rainey at MotoGP.com". motogp.com. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
5. Oxley, Mat (2010), An Age Of Superheroes, Haynes Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84425-583-2
6. "Kevin Schwantz Retires". superbikeplanet.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
7. "MotoGP Legends". motogp.com. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
8. Maher, John (23 April 2012). "Turn for turn, Austin track's design, layout should look familiar to F1 drivers". Austin-American Statesman. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
9. "Cornering Curriculum: Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School", Sport Rider, December 2001, retrieved 2012-10-31
10. Kevin Schwantz at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

External links

• Kevin-Schwantz.com - Official site
• Kevin Schwantz School
• Kevin Schwantz at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame
• Kevin Schwantz on IMDb

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ron Haslam	Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix Winner 1988	Succeeded by Robert Dunlop
Preceded by Wayne Rainey	500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1993	Succeeded by Michael Doohan