Schwantz sees red Ex-world champ slams MotoGP’s dangerous riders
Ex-world champion calls for clampdown on dangerous riding and more respect from riders
Kevin Schwantz has branded MotoGP riders ‘disrespectful and dangerous’ after a series of high-profile incidents and on-track clashes.
And the 1993 500cc world champion says someone will get seriously injured if race bosses fail to clamp down on the recent spate of outrageous moves. “Riders need to stop thinking about making the next pass and start thinking about what’s going to happen if they can’t make it,” the Texan said. “The scary part of it all is the look on Alex Rins’ face after Sachsenring, because he was that close to running over Espargaro’s head. It’s that close all the time, it’s dangerous all of the time and if you’re not 100% certain you’re going to make a move stick, then wait. It won’t be the last race in the world if you don’t make the pass, but it could well be if you do something stupid.” He continued: “Everything is so close now. You can see guys coming off corners thinking ‘I’m coming off this corner wide open and I’m not going to shut off if I see you coming in on me. I’m going to hook your handlebar and dump you on the ground first.’ Back in the day, you’d just give them some room. Maybe you’d show someone coming out of a corner that you planned to slowly run them out of race track if they didn’t back off, but there’d be no contact or locking of handlebars or falling down while going fast.” Although race control has tried to implement stricter penalties in the aftermath of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marc Marquez’ high-profile clash in Argentina earlier this year, Schwantz says he understands what’s causing the current wave of incidents and knows how to fix it. “There’s no real communication between riders now apart from the Thursday press conference,” he said. “And that’s just the few guys who are on the front row. Even then they’re just in the same room answering questions. Back when we raced, after the race on the Sunday night most of us ended up in the same bar having a beer. You’d settle your differences there, stick a finger in their chest and tell them they’d regret it if they did it again. Riders don’t have the same respect for each other anymore because they don’t have the same communication.”