Suzuki Motor Corporation drops out of MotoGP

[Guest]

Suzuki announces today that it will not participate in MotoGP series for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but hopes to return in 2014. I just saw this on Speed, but as of yet there are no official factory statements regarding it. However Rizzla basically gave them an ultimatum and when they got no answer, shut it down themselves apparently.
Sad news for us Zook fans..but at least Bautista has a ride, latching on with Gresini Honda in place of Marco.
Ducati and Honda both lose two entries as well...

http://www.cyclenews.com/mobile/suzuki-out-of-motogp

[7981GS]

Suzuki also dumps VW:

http://inlineperformancemag.com/newsopinions/suzuki-terminates-vw-partnership/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InlinePerformanceMagazine+%28Inline+Performance+Magazine%29

Daniel

[Testarossa]

It's sad but true. Rizla Suzuki has been on this path for a while now. It's a shame too, Bautista is a very talented rider who has been making consistent improvements on that bike. Bautista and Hopkins might have been a potent combination for Rizla in 2012. I have seen Bautista interviewed on After the Flag a couple of times, and he seems like a good kid. Should be a fitting replacement for Simoncelli on the Gresini if not quite the same stellar personality.

It seems that MotoGP may have to get worse before it gets better. I feel that Moto2 has been the better series the past couple of seasons, but the ultimate class cannot be a spec motor series. Lets see how the new rule changes affect racing next season. It's clear to me that when Honda pulled out of F1, they shifted all the money and development to MotoGP. Yamaha and Ducati don't have the financial resources of HRC. Suzuki and Kawasaki don't want to expend theirs in this economic climate. Truly sad. Hopefully the new formula will encourage some diversity. We'll see.....

[GregT]

Sad to see - but they've been out before for periods too.

i saw Jerry Burgess quoted a short time back as saying he could make the Suzuki a winner inside one season....No shortage of engineers, but not a lot of people around who know how to do the trick.

[pete]

I'm not particularly surprised, there's been mutterings of this before...

It's up on the MotoGP website as an official press release now too.

Sad to see - but they've been out before for periods too.

i saw Jerry Burgess quoted a short time back as saying he could make the Suzuki a winner inside one season....No shortage of engineers, but not a lot of people around who know how to do the trick.

I have the utmost respect for what Jerry Burgess has done and can do, but he also said he could fix the Ducati this year and that it was Stoner who was the problem, not the bike...

[Mysuzyq]

It seems that MotoGP may have to get worse before it gets better. I feel that Moto2 has been the better series the past couple of seasons, but the ultimate class cannot be a spec motor series.

Why not? In these tough economic times, that might be one way to justify the massive expense of fielding a team....a much more direct R&D link to models that will be brought to market. Investing millions in developing machines that will not be mass produced, will have to be reconsidered at some point, if motorcycle sales decline further. I enjoy watching the exotica presented by MotoGp and F-1 too, but the cost of fielding a competitive team is truly mind boggling.

[phatphony]

they are going to 1000 cc next year as well casey stoner reckons he likes the 1000 s better.

[pete]

they are going to 1000 cc next year as well casey stoner reckons he likes the 1000 s better.

Yes indeed! It's gonna be entertaining watch him wheel spin the 1000 given what he does already with his right wrist on the 800...

And Westy returns to MotoGP as well, even if only on a claiming rule bike...

[TheCafeKid]

I'm not sure how I feel about the CRT thing. On the one hand, I think it will help the series simply because it will invite teams/manufacturers that haven't been part of Gran Prix racing in a while. Perhaps we'll see a privateer GSXR or ZX-RR out there. Aprilia and BMW, and I'm really excited about the prospect of Norton being out there as well. But on the other hand, it will only serve to jumble up and confuse the series and widen the already cavernous gap between the factory works teams, the factory backed satellite teams, and now the CRTs. It'll be like watching WTCC. Can't follow WTF is going on because there are so many classes on the track at the same time. But, it'll also be kinda like the old Can-Am series..run whatcha brung. That was a neat series.

Should be an interesting season(s). I'm really surprised however, that Suzuki didn't simply just re-vamp the GSXR for the GP series, given how well it's done in SBK on all levels. A little re-working of the frame, some hotter motor mods and it could be competitive in the GP with the right rider.

And as much as I'm not a Honda fan, I'll be rooting for young Bautista. What he was able to do with the GSV-R when no one else seemed able to compete on it says to me that he's on his way to challenging for a crown. The next generation is coming on strong.

[pete]

Yeah it'll be interesting to see that's for sure...

I wonder if we'll start to see riders being lapped becoming a regular thing?

And Ant West is on a bike with an Aprilia engine but unknown frame last I saw...

[Big T]

I'm really surprised however, that Suzuki didn't simply just re-vamp the GSXR for the GP series, given how well it's done in SBK on all levels. A little re-working of the frame, some hotter motor mods and it could be competitive in the GP with the right rider.

Production motors and chassis aren't allowed in MotoGP. It's strictly prototypes. The new CRT rules allow production based motors

Unfortunately, so far the CRT teams are about 2 seconds off the pace. Hopefully that will change once Colin Edwards and other experienced riders start testing

[TheCafeKid]

Production motors and chassis aren't allowed in MotoGP. It's strictly prototypes. The new CRT rules allow production based motors

Unfortunately, so far the CRT teams are about 2 seconds off the pace. Hopefully that will change once Colin Edwards and other experienced riders start testing

That's what I was saying. Rather than bow out entirely, why not fund a CRT team? Or are factories not allowed to fund CRTs?

I don't care if Augustini in his prime, or Vale in his prime were riding for a CRT, they're not going to compete with the works teams. At least not those Hondas or Yamahammers...

[pete]

I just hope the CRT bikes aren't *too* slow... you don't want a Stoner vs. Lorenzo vs. Spies vs. Pedrosa vs. Rossi (I can dream ok?) battle coming upon a bunch of CRT bikes having a battle a lap down in the middle of the race... that could only end in disaster I fear...