How to Pass

[dirkterrell]

Something reminded me of the pass that Kevin Schwantz put on Wayne Rainey on the last lap of the German GP back in 1991, so I went looking for it on YouTube. For those of you who weren't following racing back then, I thought I'd share one of the greatest displays of riding I recall seeing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHtdy43O0Xg&playnext=1&list=PL7B75AF2EAD172A27

Watch the replay at 4:00 in.

I recall watching him at a race at Road Atlanta in 1984 where I thought he was either going to win or kill himself, racing an FJ600 against vastly more powerful RZ500's. He won.

Enjoy.

Dirk

[CaneZach]

Great video! This is when I first started watching MC racing. I was in high school and in awe of what they could do with the bike.

[OUTLAWD]

and here I thought this was going to be a well thought out post on how to safely execute a pass on the street ;)

[Snowman]

What.. you don't go under and out brake Cadillac Escalade's on off ramps?

[ThrottleControl]

and here I thought this was going to be a well thought out post on how to safely execute a pass on the street ;)


^ haha same here, i was like, i wonder if I am doing it right.

[dirkterrell]

and here I thought this was going to be a well thought out post on how to safely execute a pass on the street ;)


^ haha same here, i was like, i wonder if I am doing it right.

Well, the thread is in the racing section. 8)

[OUTLAWD]

oh...well, now that you mention it...on the rare occasion I do pass someone at the track, that is how I do it...

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Awesome! But then, Schwantz WAS always my favorite to watch. The guy always managed to do amazing shit on underdog bikes. But for bad luck, lots of mechanical failures, and some of his own mistakes, he would have been Champion a couple more times instead of Rainey. I have the '93 GP's at Assen and Hockenheim on VHS and DVD and they're both awesome races, especially Assen. I saw Schwantz's first pro AMA Superbike race on Wes Cooley's old #34 Yosh Suzuki at Willow Springs in '84 I think it was. He whooped on everyone, and the announcers (and us) didn't even know who he was. It was amazing. Then after that I went to all the AMA SBK races at Laguna in the '80's, and the GP's when they started having them there too. Only missed the last one in '92 because I lived in OH. If I'd known it was going to be the last race there of the Golden 2-stroke era (and GP there for years), I would have made sure to make it. Ahhh, the good old days when clouds of castor-oil smoke and the sound of 2-strokes screaming like a swarm of (very!) angry bees filled the air! :)

[dirkterrell]

Awesome! But then, Schwantz WAS always my favorite to watch. The guy always managed to do amazing shit on underdog bikes. But for bad luck, lots of mechanical failures, and some of his own mistakes, he would have been Champion a couple more times instead of Rainey.

Yeah, he was the most entertaining rider of that era, no doubt. I only saw him race three times but he could definitely get a crowd on its feet. The contrasting style between him and Eddie Lawson in the '86 Daytona 200 was really evident. And in that race he had a competitive bike unlike the GS750 he had the year before (although I recall that he qualified pretty well with it, in the top 5 or something).

Spencer and Lawson were smooth. You almost never saw them out of sorts. But Schwantz, as you point out, with lesser hardware underneath him was usually pushing the machine beyond limits that any reasonable human would explore, and it made for a great show. I sometimes wonder how well he could have done on a Yamaha or Honda team. But I think he probably relished that underdog role and it certainly didn't hurt his popularity. I'd love to spend some sessions one-on-one learning from him.

Dirk

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Yeah, he was the most entertaining rider of that era, no doubt. I only saw him race three times but he could definitely get a crowd on its feet. The contrasting style between him and Eddie Lawson in the '86 Daytona 200 was really evident. And in that race he had a competitive bike unlike the GS750 he had the year before (although I recall that he qualified pretty well with it, in the top 5 or something).

Spencer and Lawson were smooth. You almost never saw them out of sorts. But Schwantz, as you point out, with lesser hardware underneath him was usually pushing the machine beyond limits that any reasonable human would explore, and it made for a great show. I sometimes wonder how well he could have done on a Yamaha or Honda team. But I think he probably relished that underdog role and it certainly didn't hurt his popularity. I'd love to spend some sessions one-on-one learning from him.

Dirk
Rainey was always very smooth as well, if not as entertaining. Wayne Gardener was more the "Schwantz" from Aus, and Mamola was crazy too. In fact, my first time seeing the 500's was at Laguna in '86 where KR Senior brought Mamola and Mike Baldwin in on the Team Kool Yamahas on the OLD layout. In that configuration it was a scary fast track along that front straight. They added the infield the next year I think it was. I kinda wish Schwantz would have gone to Yamahe, he probably would have won a couple more championships as I remember there were times the suzuki seized or had some other major problem, but they always had a much smaller budget than the others. But, he stayed loyal to them, and you gotta respect that!

Oh, and frank2 went to some suzuki event a few years back and got Kevin to sign my old Laguna ticket. I HAD a team Pepsi Suzuki poster from Laguna that Kevin and Ron Haslam signed, but my dad's bitch wife threw that away when cleaning out my old closet along with all my other framed Laguna posters I had collected from the first race on. Hope she rots in hell!

[JustSomeDude]

That replay is sick.

I love the look over the shoulder... I can almost hear him saying, "geeeet the f*ck outta heeere...."

:)