Kieron Mooney Met Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, and Kevin Schwantz While Attending The IndyGP version of the Kevin Schwantz School

Story used by permission of Sean de Fraine— Sean is the Web master for www.blarneyquick.com and the Kevin Schwantz School – Official Page facebook page.  For more about Kieron and Sean’s Schwantz School Experience see “Kevin Schwantz Laps Barber Motorsports Park”.

Kieron Mooney, Kevin Schantz, and Sean de Fraine. Image linked-from, and linked-to www.blarneyquick.com. Click on the image to go to www.blarneyquick.com.

This was my third year in a row. What can I say, I am totally hooked. But this past combination of first participating in the 2-day Kevin Schwantz School and then being hosted by the school for three days at Indy for MotoGP was a life long dream fulfilled. Barber Motor Sports Park is the best racing facility I have ever seen. Just driving into it made me feel like I was at a golf course – everything is so manicured. The track was very technical with lots of sweeping corners, not as fast as years past in Road Atlanta. The school was excellent as usual, Lee Acree was lead instructor in the classroom with the man himself chiming in and answering any questions. I knew all of the track instructor except for one, so it was like seeing family again. Marnie Lincoln: the boss; had everything well organized and she always had time for everyone. I returned to the school with another 3-peater – Sean de Fraine. We drove 2200 miles overall. Went through 10 states – read Sean’s piece on the trip. He describes every detail real well, so I don’t want to be repetitive. There were 9 guys in the A group and everyone rode well. We were all better at the end of our 2-days with Kevin and his crew. Sean in my opinion improved the best – he’s the guy in the fancy Rizla leathers.

I brought my Suzuki GSXR 750 down with me and it preformed brilliantly. There was a Suzuki film crew at Barber taking segments for the 25 the Anniversary of the GSXR Superbike. They filmed everybody, so hopefully some of us will make history. The A group guys all became friends and all meet back up at Indy for the experience of a life time. Kevin was going to ride his 1993 World Championship RGV 500 just before the start of MotoGP. Kevin is a huge fan favorite and he was showered with attention. Marnie pulled off a great location in the paddock. We were at Garage 4, right beside Yamaha and Honda catering. So we really never had to move to meet all the past and present stars – they basically came to us. We all took hundreds of photo’s of just about everything – I even managed to take a few of the famous brolly girls. We meet all the riders and were brought into LCR Honda’s garage and also Rizla Suzuki. This kind of access is unheard of. I meet Valentino, Jorge, Nicky and all the riders, but for me it was the old school boys like Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey and Kevin that impressed me most. They were very cool to talk to. We even went and watched Kenny Roberts Ride his TZ 750 dirt tracker at the Indy Fairgrounds. We were afforded so much in such a little time. Corner 9 seating was great and the VIP club house was first rate. The Racing was exciting and I don’t think it could have been better. Thanks to Kevin and Marnie for this GP Experience Package – one I will never forget.