Schwantz: MotoGP is better now than in my era

Schwantz was a full-time world championship racer from 1988 until his retirement in early 1995, a period many consider to be the heyday for the 500cc class.

The American rode for Suzuki throughout his premier class career, and won the 1993 title - the Japanese manufacturer's first since Franco Uncini won the championship in 1982.

With his era being dominated largely by Yamaha and Honda, Schwantz says he believes MotoGP in the present day is a more enjoyable product for the fans due to its competitiveness.

Along with the factory Yamaha, Honda and Ducati teams, satellite riders of all three of those manufacturers have been competitive in 2017.

Tech 3 Yamaha duo Johann Zarco, Jonas Folger, LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow and Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci have all taken podium finishes this season, Zarco also scoring pole position at Assen.

Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro also have shown flashes of occasional competitiveness, while Aspar Ducati rider Karel Abraham qualified a shock second in Argentina.

Schwantz reckons the unpredictability that comes with almost every rider having equipment capable of fighting towards the front is what makes present-day MotoGP so entertaining.

"I think now it is better from the fans' perspective," said Schwantz. "Any [bike] has the ability, maybe not the KTM just yet, but it seems like everything else has the opportunity to be at the front.

"I don't know if Aprilia made progress or not [this year] and it's just Aleix riding all that well, but all the Ducatis, [Alvaro] Bautista, [Hector] Barbera, Petrucci, [Loris] Baz...

"I mean, everybody is having a run at the front at some time or another during the season. That to me is good, it makes racing that much more exciting."

Close field making mistakes more common

Schwantz's comments have been borne out by a closely fought title race, with the top four riders all within 10 points of each other at the halfway point of the season.

This has partly been caused by almost every frontrunner having off-days during the first nine races, with Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales both crashing of two grands prix and every other rider retiring at least once in the first nine races.

"To have a championship as tight as it is at the top, everybody made a mistake almost halfway [through the season], I'm excited what the second half is gonna bring," Schwantz said.

"To me to see at a place like Sachsenring, to see just barely two seconds from the front to the back... if you just have a little bit of a bad day, you could be 15th easily.

"I think that's why you see the guys at the front making the mistakes that they are making, because they are under pressure every lap.

"It's not like 'this weekend I can just ride and my bike is not great [and] I'll be fourth'. No, you can be 14th in the blink of an eye."