The Infallible Kevin Schwantz

Opinion/Commentary
By Pete Hitzeman
Behind the Visor

I'm writing this, knowing fully that it will attract nothing but the ire and disdain of the motorcycling press, and large parts of the motorcycle racing community. But I wouldn't be writing it if I didn't think it needed to be said, because I know from many private conversations that I'm not alone in this sentiment.

Kevin Schwantz is not God.

The 1993 500cc World Champion has found himself embroiled in an ugly legal and public relations battle with the Circuit of the Americas, the new Grand Prix track that opened last year in Austin, Texas. Schwantz was involved in the negotiations between the track and Dorna, rights owners to the MotoGP championship, to create a third US round for the series at COTA. At some point, Schwantz was under the impression that his company was going to be the promoter for the race. Instead, Dorna and COTA signed a contract that did not include Schwantz or his company. Schwantz has filed suit, alleging "tortious interference and fraud" on the part of COTA, but not naming a dollar amount, or mentioning Dorna at all.

Whether or not Schwantz has legal standing is a difficult question. If all he had was a verbal agreement, and COTA denies that any agreement ever existed, one would think it would be hard for a judge to award any ruling in favor of the plaintiff. If. It strikes me as exceedingly odd that someone with 25 years of experience in the MotoGP paddock would rely on a handshake agreement, and not have something, anything, in writing. That level of naiveté is expected from a Moto3 rookie, but certainly not a seasoned veteran of the business.

Going to School

Track Report
By Pete Hitzeman
for R6Live.com

A few years ago, I had reached a very frustrating point in my track riding. I had worked my way up to running a solid “A-group” pace at my local track days, but I was stuck. Despite studying hard and working harder, I just wasn’t going any faster. Worse, I didn’t know what I needed to do to go any faster. It was almost to the point where I wasn’t having fun anymore. Going to the track had started to seem like work, instead of the fantasy-land it once was. Even my wife started to ask me if I was having any fun, wondering why I looked so serious all the time at the track.

I had asked for help. At a few track days run by some very reputable organizations, I had asked the control riders to follow me and tell me where I was going wrong, what I needed to work on. But the feedback I got was, well, not feedback. “Yeah, you look really smooth, your lines are good, just keep at it,” was the essence of what I was told. Not exactly useful, substantive advice. So I went nowhere with my riding, and continued to try to do the same things, but faster, which yielded exactly nothing in terms of lap times.

Then the best possible thing happened, and I was forced to take a break. A knee injury and subsequent surgery sidelined me for the 2010 season, and an extended training tour for the Air National Guard kept the bike on stands for all of 2011. I missed riding on the track, but realized through the break that when I came back, I needed to do it right, do something entirely different, or I would quickly run right back into the same stone wall I had reached before.

Enter Jason Pridmore’s STAR Motorcycle School. Through his partnership with the Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team, Pridmore had gotten involved with the National Guard a few years ago, and started running school dates throughout the year, free of charge to Guard members. The Guard, and the military as a whole, have become painfully aware of the accident and fatality statistics for military riders, and asked Jason what he could do to help turn the tide. The STAR school’s emphasis on conscious control has turned out to be just the thing, and their National Guard Rider Training dates have received universal acclaim for enhancing rider skill, preventing the losses of control that are so central to most motorcycle accidents.

Pilgramage

Opinion/Commentary
By Pete Hitzeman
for R6Live.com

After a seven hour sprint across the deserts and hills of southern and central California, I abruptly found myself at home among friends. Moments before they were total strangers, but just then, sitting around a campfire with a beer in my hand, I realized that we had essentially known each other for many years. Stories were exchanged, arguments joined, and jokes were told as if it were the reunion of a long-separated family.

Perhaps it was. I was at Laguna Seca, an unlikely race course nestled into the hills near Monterey. During one weekend every summer, the otherwise tranquil and picturesque nature reserve explodes into three days of power and pageantry known as the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

Attending a race weekend is a shock to the system of even the most ardent race fan. The assault on all senses, the intangibles of the atmosphere and the proximity to one’s heroes combine to produce a state of almost childlike bewilderment for the racing faithful. To be sure, watching a race on television may give you a better overall understanding of what’s going on throughout the weekend, but it is no substitute for the in-person experience.

And there is no experience quite like MotoGP.