Kevin Schwantz - Journal Entry: Second Test, Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup

At the state of the art Barber Motorsports Park it was a much different test than our fist test at Laguna because all the kids had been to Barber which was where we had the selection test last September.

We started with the kids in two-groups until after lunch when we put them all out together. Our thought is that they will all be racing together out there so we should get them all out there together and get accustomed to it. In the two afternoon sessions, both Mark Cernicky and Steve Atlas rode my bike. In the first afternoon session we had more scratched-up motorcycles and scuffed-up leathers than we had in our previous two and a half days of testing. After that there were a lot of long stares at their coach so I sat them down and gave them a quick speech.. Even when the bikes aren't exactly right, you have to be able to compensate whether it's tires or suspension. Great racers are the guys who can overcome adversity. After this quick discussion the last session of the day ran without incident.

I continue to ask the kids to make the best notes they possibly can about their testing, lap-by-lap-by-lap or at the end of the day make sure to write down everything that sticks in their head.

Day two started off at 7am with a meeting with the riders and their parents and this was also where I informed them of their sponsorship opportunity to wear a Kevin Schwantz School patch on their leathers and a schwantzschool.com decal on their visor for $1,000.00 for the season. Hopefully this will offset some of their expenses throughout the season. After that, at 7:30am, we did a track walk. It was 25 degrees that morning, for a low so the first half of the track walk was very cold! Having said that, the track walk was a great opportunity for the kids who don't speak English to have their translators ask questions. I try and make it a point to ask all the kids if they have any other questions but I think the language barrier makes it difficult for the foreign speaking kids. We started riding at 9:30am. I rode with the kids the first session and then turned my bike over to Mark Gardiner for the second session. In the last two sessions of the day we just practiced.. the sighting lap and warm-up lap and starts, which we did three-times in one session. In the last session we did a simulated race. They pulled out from the truck and did a sighting lap and warm-up lap and came around to stage. We then did a 15-lap race. All the kids did an amazing job, we had three pull into pit lane to have their mechanics remove tape from the radiator because the temperature had gone above the recommended 65 degrees. To be that excited about racing for the first time, even though it was only mock-race, the maturity the kids showed was just amazing.

All in all the test went exceptionally well. The spread in timing from top to bottom is getting closer and closer all the time. If their coach has his way about things, the spread will be in the three second range.

Good job kids…From your new sponsor!