KEY POINTS:
One of the most spectacular motorcycle grand prix riders to grace the 500cc world championship, American Kevin Schwantz, is in New Zealand for the first time.
The 1993 world 500cc champion follows in the footsteps of other great racers; world champions Geoff Duke, Umberto Masetti, John Surtees and Giacomo Agostini at the 30th Anniversary of the New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Festival. But unlike the others, he'll actually be racing.
World renowned motorcycle builder, Kiwi Ken McIntosh has brought him over to race a classic 1962 500cc Manx Norton in the feature races at Pukekohe this weekend.
"A friend of mine who knows Kevin suggested I contact him," said McIntosh. "When he won the world championship he bought his dad a Manx Norton as a present. He's always had this Manx sitting there but had never ridden it so we thought we'd capitalise on that."
Schwantz will not be here to circulate; all through his career he only knew one way to race - to win. Along the way he won 25 Grand Prix Prix races, set 21 lap records and was held in such high regard by the FIM, his racing number 34 was retired from the sport. The first time in history such an honour had been bestowed on a rider.
Even today people still hold Schwantz in high regard. "I think the public always has a keen eye for the guy who's always putting out 100 per cent," said Schwantz. "In the late 80s, early 90s there were a few of us out there doing that. Rossi still talks about that era and Stoner does as well. Us guys back then [Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Mick Doohan, Daryl Beatie and Wayne Gardner] made the sport most of what it is today."
Schwantz arrived on the world scene with a hiss and a roar and was seen as a rider who manhandled and wrestled his bike into submission.
"It was an era that was less forgiving and I hadn't been road racing for all that long and had a steep learning curve. I didn't have any time to ride around and learn things the right way. I just learnt from trial and error and hoped each time I fell down, that I could learn something from it and not make the same mistake again," he said.
You'd almost expect those who raced the two-stroke 500cc GP bikes with their ultra narrow power bands and unforgiving natures, would leap at the chance to race a modern-day four-stroke MotoGP bike with its broad power band.
"Nah, I'm happy with the time I did," said Schwantz. "Of course as a racer you sit back and think I can still do it but I don't want all the grief and pressure anymore."
There might be a little bit of pressure on his shoulders as it'll be his first time on a Manx.
"Everybody keeps asking me if I've ever ridden one. I'm like 'No' but it's got two wheels, an engine and shifts one way and stops. I'll figure it out while having the most fun I possible can. "I've heard a lot about McIntosh-built bikes and I'm really looking forward to riding one," he said.
The Festival is known internationally as one of the best classic motorcycle events in the world where up to 350 bikes compete in over 40 races. It will feature a large display of classic road motorcycles, a demonstration of the Britten V1000 and tomorrow a fly by of a World War II P40 Kittyhawk. Also on show will be former Norton team rider Dave Croxford demonstrating a 1975 Norton Cosworth bike. The 750cc machine was designed to take on the might
of the two-strokes at the time and used technology developed for the Ford-Cosworth Formula One DFV car engine.
