Wes Cooley, Kevin Schwantz 1983 Suzuki GS750ES Factory Yoshimura

This was Schwantz's first factory ride in '85. During his first year of endurance racing, Schwantz impressed journalist and racer John Ulrich. Ulrich arranged a try-out for Schwantz with the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team at the end of the 1984 season. The day before the try-out at Willow Springs, Ulrich took his endurance bike out to the track and had Schwantz make laps all day. The next morning the Yoshimura team showed up with a Superbike, and by the afternoon Schwantz had run close to the lap record. Yoshimura Manager Suehiro Watanabe was so excited that he wanted Schwantz to sign a contract then and there.

Yoshimura Suzuki only contested Daytona and the West Coast Superbike races in 1985. At Daytona, Schwantz qualified third, but the clutch failed on his bike and he didn’t even complete a lap. At the next round, at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, on April 28, Schwantz won both legs of the Superbike final to earn his first AMA national victory. He went on to win two other Superbike races that season and was ranked seventh in the series after racing in only half of the events.