Schwantz to take 1993 title-winning bike for spin

Kevin Schwantz is to ride the Suzuki RGV500, on which he won the 1993 MotoGP World Championship, at this weekend’s Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Schwantz will ride the restored bike on demonstration laps of the 2.621-mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 2.15pm on Sunday (30th August), 45 minutes before the start of the MotoGP race.

Schwantz, from Houston, recorded 25 victories during his illustrious Grand Prix career. It will be the first time he has ridden the bike since he retired after the 1995 season.

“We fired it up one weekend, I think, late in the year in 1995,” Schwantz said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve sat on it a couple of times. We've got some new Michelin tires for it. I'm not going to try and throw down a qualifying lap, that's for sure, but I'm really looking forward to riding it. Hearing that V4 two-stroke running around out here is going to be special.”

A demonstration of a new Moto2 class bike will also take place on Saturday, from 4pm-4.40pm. Moto2, which will use 600cc engines, will replace the 250cc category in 2010.

Tickets for the final event of 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix – can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time and start as low as $75 for a three-day General Admission ticket.