Team Kagayama Suzuki from the 2013 Suzuki 8 Hours, which Kevin Schwantz helped pilot to third
Team Kagayama Suzuki from the 2013 Suzuki 8 Hours, which Kevin Schwantz helped pilot to thirdSchwantz Motorcycle Racing SchoolLast year, 1993 MotoGP Champion Kevin Schwantz made his international motorcycle-racing return at the Suzuka 8 Hours, a round in the Endurance World Championship.
The 49-year-old Texan, along with teammates Yukio Kagayama and Noriyuki Haga, piloted the Team Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R 1000 to the final podium finish.This says much for Schwantz, considering The Suzuka Circuit has much significance. Schwantz took his first win at the Japanese track, but it was also where a serious crash occurred in April of 1995 that ultimately forced Schwantz to take his 18-year break from racing.But last season’s race got Schwantz’s energy flowing once again for racing, and he has confirmed that he will compete at this year’s Suzuka 8 Hours with the same team.Due to this, and other planned races, The Schwantz School – one of the world’s premier motorcycle-racing schools – will take a hiatus in 2014, though it will likely return in 2015.Besides racing at the Suzuka 8 Hours July 24-27, Schwantz has also been announced as the “Guest of Honor” at the Classic Motorcycle Festival at Donington Park in England on August 8-10. There are also discussions of Schwantz racing in other races in England.“In addition to the special motorcycling events I will be attending this year, I am really looking forward to moving into my new house and settling in there,” says Schwantz. “Over the years, due to racing, my travel commitments and the school, I have not spent all that much time sleeping in my own bed at home, and I’d like to give that a try for a while.”For additional information, visit schwantzschool.com.
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This week, in the first segment Editor Don Williams talks to us about the new Kawasaki Versys 650 LT. It’s the middleweight ADV style machine that uses the same 650 parallel twin motor as the Ninja 650, so it’s an excellent performer in a user-friendly, good looking package.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my dearest industry friends—now retired Honda PR executive, Jon Seidel. Jon’s fascinating career spans some 30 years with Big Red, and gave him some great experiences with some incredible machines. I was fortunate enough to be invited on many of the press launches that he organized. His new project is documenting and saving many of the old archives from years gone by—and incidentally, if you have anything that may be of value to the project, please contact us by email at producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we’ll pass it all on to Jon.
So on that note, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!