Kevin Schwantz – a home tour of a racing / MotoGP legend

In rare cases, you can also switch to first person on the news platform. There are stories that cannot be written gently. They want to be told.

This special experience of the editor, who has just arrived in the SPEEDWEEK area, begins the winter of 2020/2021 with a call from the manager of Suzuki and the boss of the German organization in Heppenheim, Bert Poensgen. The patron of the Suzuki subsidiary, who died in 2017, loved racing and understood, like no one else at the time, how to combine the expertise of Suzuki motorcycles with the company’s racing program. Poensgen was a boss, marketing visionary, sales talent, customer service expert, motivator and entertainer all in one. In short, Bert Poensgen was above all brilliant in his role.

Thanks Bert Poensgen
Since I at least share a passion for fast motorcycling with the famous “Poe” and, in addition to my training as an editor, I also presented impressive performances in the national racing scene, Poensgen constantly encouraged me to write stories about bold acceleration. What he preferred was fearless reporting straight from the handle. His statement at the press launch of Suzuki on the race track, where his teammate gave scraps and was insulted by the gathered press crowd, will not be forgotten: “Men gather together and better take a role model – and give them a lot of gas first! “

I’m drifting away. Because it’s about another Suzuki hero. The godfather of smokers, who shouts to the world of 500cc two-strokes: Kevin Schwantz.
Whom I could not have met without Suzuki’s national hero Bert Poensgen. At the time, Suzuki was pushing the latest GSX-R platform into the market. After the popular 750 in 2000, the long-awaited power hammer with full liter displacement followed almost a year later. Bäääm. Shortly before the world presentation, including a test trip in the USA, an unforgettable call: “Kuttruf – pack your things. And plan a few more days. You can visit Kevin. Up and out».

What? Correct – Poensgen had sent a young MO editor directly to the US and signed me up for a home visit with the racing legend and world champion in the 500cc class from 1993.

A dream that became reality. Two days after testing Suzuki’s brutal new “Gixxer” on the hellish Atlanta Road track, I drove to North Carolina in a rental car with photographer and kind soul Gerhard. Kevin Schwantz was also part of the media presentation as an ambassador, but he was only the coach of the American delegation and left before the European media arrived.

Kevin who…?
Curious. At the gas station in Davidson, the small town where Schwantz lived at the time, the woman at the checkout had already heard the name “Schwantz” somewhere, but the woman did not know that the legend of the race was two miles home.

House “34” is easy to see. An XL pickup truck is parked in front of a southern mansion – a new GSX-R 1000 in the loading bay.

Texan greets me without a safe distance and asks me to get a hand first, 1000 must enter the garage. Before the superbike comes down, my idol shows me the chassis number of his new toy with a smile: 34.

The creation of the legend “Motodrom”
I was afraid that Kevin Schwantz would quickly return in his free time after the official interview. Why should the race hero take more time than is necessary for the German rookie? But I ignore the generosity of the man who became a rock star to me when he braked Yamaha ace and three-time world champion Wayne Rainey right before my eyes at the Hockenheim Motodrom.

Kevin calmly and without a sense of pride shows me his property, where he lives alone with his dog “Buck”. Fittingly, the tour begins in his garage. Off-road bikes dominate. Suzuki logo. But I can also recognize the Ducati 916 under the canvas. Plus: AMG-Benz, 911 Turbo and truck. 22 cylinders, 1400 hp. Bigger is better.

What interests me the most in the house is the wardrobe of the athlete who retired in 1995. Here they hang, the legendary leathers of Nankai and Dainese, which became a driving brand for a whole generation of fans. Kevin arrives at the range and favors a badly beaten outfit. “I was wearing that when Mick Doohan ran me over at Donington.” Wow!

Freedom
We spend the next hour in Kevin’s playroom with movies, toys, Playstation etc. You can find out about one man’s life here. At lunch we go to an Italian restaurant with Kevin and a family friend from the neighborhood. While eating pizza in Davidson, North Carolina, I ask an immigrant from Texas, who moves here completely unmolested, why he lives here of all places. With long strings of cheese dangling from his mouth, Kevin replied: “That’s exactly why. Because I can do whatever I want here. This is my freedom.”

Yes, I pinched myself several times. But this day, it really happened. My conclusion then: Kevin Schwantz is not only a great racing driver, but also a very nice person. And if I meet a Suzuki rodeo rider again in Austin or any other paddock, I’ll say the same again – and thanks for the pizza in February 2001 in Davidson, NC.