Hero of the brand and always a supporter as its ambassador, he is no happier than Kevin Schwantz when a Suzuki triumphs in the Grand Prix. And this year, the legendary No. 34 has been filled. 20 years after Kenny Roberts Jr's title, a new drivers' crown has fallen into the hands of the Hamamatsu manufacturer. A consecration which also endorses a recruitment policy aimed at young people, launched as soon as Maverick Viñales left the scene to take over the management of Yamaha…
A choice remembered by the Texan who recalls history. By this means, it legitimizes the audacity of Suzuki at the time, even if it meant giving regrets to a Maverick Vinales who today could consider themselves much less happy in MotoGP in Yamaha ... " It was quite surprising that Maverick left, even if the Suzuki project was not yet very promising at the time »Comments Kevin schwantz. " But you have to have young talent around him, and that's exactly what Brivio did. Signing Rins and Mir was a risk, but in the end they became two young and strong drivers ».
The same Schwantz has a close relationship with the GSX-RR riders: “ I sent Rins several messages, I do it whenever I can. It's good for me to be in contact with them. Seeing what they do on this bike is something special for me. I haven't been able to talk to Mir much, but he seems like a good guy. I heard him talk about the pressure in racing, how difficult things are for people and everything that is happening out there in this strange 2020 season. It was a surprise for me to hear a boy from 23 years old talking about people who suffer ».
Schwantz does not forget Guintoli
Schwantz also don’t forget the test pilot…” For the last two years, these young people have been working on the bike with Sylvain Guintoli as tester, to obtain a machine with which everyone is comfortable., because if you, as a rider, are not comfortable on the bike, you will not go to the limit every lap. You won't be able to go fast enough on this bike and you won't be in front, because MotoGP has a really strong group of riders and bikes today. You have to be in the game to be ahead. It's been a great team effort and you also can't forget the engineers in Japan and all the endless hours they put into Hamamatsu ».
The veteran ends by establishing a parallel between his Suzuki of the last century and the current GSX-RR. An evaluation that allows him to detect similarities: “ I think the Suzuki is still a very good running bike. The bike I was riding changed direction very well, everything was very simple, for example in 90° turns. The new Suzuki also seems to corner very well in all situations, riders often struggle to steer the bike well in a very long corner, but the new Suzuki with the electronics and everything they have is a very solid bike which makes the passage of curves very efficient ". It will be recalled that Suzuki returned to glory the year the manufacturer celebrated its 100 years old. And that the success recorded this year has convinced a sponsor to invest in the Hamamatsu project, while it already supports that of Yamaha .
