Kevin Schwantz, the much loved 1993 500cc World Champion, has returned to the top step of the podium 15 years after his retirement from racing.
It happened at Barber Motorsports Park, in the Barber Motorspeed Festival, the final round in the AHRMA championship: a series of invitation only races for riders who have won a race in previous seasons. Also participating was Dario Marchetti, the only Italian representative at the event.
Schwantz was competing in a category for historic bikes, called SMS, at the controls of a Norton Manx 500. He won the race the only way he knows how, with a last lap pass on Pat Mooney, following an exciting battle with another three riders.
Marchetti, meanwhile, was racing in more moderns categories, the Battle of Twins and Sound of Thunder, with the Ducati 848 of Team Ducshop. Unfortunately the veteran rider is dealing with a particular rule by which the organizers determine the starting grid based on championship placement in prior seasons. This meant Dario was starting from the fourth row, and he has finished seventh in each of the three races thus far.
source: GP One
