A Quick Chat with Kevin Schwantz

No. 34, Kevin Schwantz, the most spectacular rider on the track in the 1980s

In 2006, when I was working for BIKE India magazine in Pune, I had an opportunity to do a (very brief) interview with Kevin Schwantz, winner of the 500cc motorcycle grand prix road racing world championship in 1993. While some other riders have won more world championships and have more race wins to their name, Schwantz’s flamboyant riding style and his all-or-nothing approach to motorcycle racing stand out to this day – something that legions of his fans will attest to. I have been a huge Schwantz fan ever since the late-1980s, when I first started watching motorcycle racing on television (and sometimes on video cassettes, whenever I could get my hands on those) and often found myself rooting for the Suzuki rider.

This particular interview with Schwantz, which I did in 2006 on behalf of BIKE India, is super-short but I still wanted to preserve it, hence posting it here, hoping it’ll remain here forever.  

Thunder from Down Under: In Conversation with Casey Stoner

Aussie rider Casey Stoner won his last MotoGP world championship in 2011, with Honda

In 2012, I had an opportunity to interview then-reigning MotoGP world champion, Casey Stoner, a month after he’d announced his retirement from the sport. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.

MotoGP represents the most formidable form of closed-circuit motorcycle road racing. With 1000cc engines that produce up to 330-horsepower, MotoGP bikes weigh less than 160 kilos and hit top speeds of about 350km/h. In recent years, advanced electronics and traction control systems have made it a tiny bit easier to control these machines, but you still need superhuman talent to ride these beasts at competitive speeds around some of the most demanding, challenging race circuits in the world.

MotoGP is a demanding sport – physically and mentally – and those who race in MotoGP are some of most capable athletes in the world. Australian rider Casey Stoner, with his two world championships, is right up there with the best. Riding for Ducati, he took an amazing 10 race wins in 2007, winning his first MotoGP world championship, and repeated the feat in 2011, winning his second championship with Honda.

Now 27 years old, Stoner is widely considered to be the fastest man in the world on two wheels – one of the most talented motorcycle racers of his time. In a shock move, Casey announced that he will retire from MotoGP at the end of the 2012 season. In this interview that I did with him [on behalf of Man’s World magazine], Stoner talks about the sport he loves most, the changes he thinks it needs and his rivalry with Valentino ‘The Doctor’ Rossi. Here are some excerpts: