Suzuki will leave MotoGP after 2022 [split]

Suzuki set to quit MotoGP at the end of the year. What on earth? 

https://www.motorspo...-2022/10268146/

Sounds like Mir to the Repsol Honda with Rins future unclear.

Edited by P0inters, 02 May 2022 - 16:33.

Wow, Suzuki leaving sucks...

Suzuki set to quit MotoGP at the end of the year. What on earth? 

https://www.motorspo...-2022/10268146/

That's unexpected 

This triggers the riders market as well, Mir/Rins looking for a ride!

Edited by thegamer23, 02 May 2022 - 16:34.

Terrible news.

What a shame.  Suzuki has a great MotoGP bike.  There was a real expectation that they might expand and add a satellite team, not pull out of the sport entirely

Can Yamaha buy their engine IP?

This is bad news, although historically Suzuki have been maybe a bit less committed to Grand Prix racing than the other two big Japanese manufacturers.

Anyone know the reasons why the blue team is throwing in the towel?

This is bad news, although historically Suzuki have been maybe a bit less committed to Grand Prix racing than the other two big Japanese manufacturers.

 

Anyone know the reasons why the blue team is throwing in the towel?

To go to World Superbike and Supercross again ? Anything less is an absolute insult to Racing.

We have something great in MotoGP right now, 6! competitive manufacturers. 

I despise brands that are quitters. Not real racers.

Davide Brivio's move now looks so much more understandable....

Edited by OvDrone, 02 May 2022 - 17:38.

Davide Brivio's move now looks so much more understandable....

Yes, I wonder what HQ said when he told them what kind of investment it would take to keep Suzuki at their 2020 level for the long term. Well I don't wonder what they said, but I wonder how he took it.

I continue to not understand the reasoning of Japanese manufacturers in motorsport. Honda quits F1 not long after they finally get their act together, and Suzuki leaves MotoGP two years after one of their riders won championship. Bizarre. 

Edited by JHSingo, 02 May 2022 - 18:04.

Booooo! This sucks. 

I don't quite understand how Mir has a Repsol Honda seat lined up unless he either knew in advance or was heading there anyway.

It does make sense as I noted a while back - with Marquez not what he was, HRC no longer represents the career suicide it did when Lorenzo made that foolish decision.

Suzuki have always been the lowest budget of the 3 main Japanese companies that race.  And if management felt that they didn't get enough out of racing for even that paltry sum, I guess it is not surprising.  It really is only Honda and Yamaha that are genuinely committed to racing.

I think Franco Morbidelli just got very, very nervous indeed.

Yep, he's in big trouble if what Lin Jarvis said post-race at Jerez is any guide. It's easier to fix a fast crasher than someone finishing half a minute behind his team-mate. I would pick Rins over him.

Edited by Disgrace, 02 May 2022 - 18:18.

Edited by BRK, 02 May 2022 - 19:15.

Suzuki have always been the lowest budget of the 3 main Japanese companies that race.  And if management felt that they didn't get enough out of racing for even that paltry sum, I guess it is not surprising.  It really is only Honda and Yamaha that are genuinely committed to racing.

This is the most worrying thing. What if Suzuki is the 'smart' manufacturer and this just betrays how poor a value motorsport actually is. 

So with Mir likely to go to Honda, where is Rins going to go, even with his ability to crash at times, he's surely better than some of the others out there at the moment. 

Unbelievable.   

So with Mir likely to go to Honda, where is Rins going to go, even with his ability to crash at times, he's surely better than some of the others out there at the moment. 

I would guess Yamaha? Dovi is surely out and Franco not doing great either so at least one seat is free.

No idea about Pol, would Aprilia want him?

Edited by dissident, 02 May 2022 - 20:09.

To go to World Superbike and Supercross again ? Anything less is an absolute insult to Racing.

We have something great in MotoGP right now, 6! competitive manufacturers.  

I despise brands that are quitters. Not real racers.

Davide Brivio's move now looks so much more understandable....

I take a dim view of a motorcycle company who doesn't treat racing seriously. Honda & Yamaha have racing in their DNA, across many categories of motorcycle sport. Suzuki pulling out of MotoGP, and as yet they're not in any of the other major global championships (WSBK, MXGP, Enduro).

Did not see that coming

dreadful news and a big shock

So with Mir likely to go to Honda, where is Rins going to go, even with his ability to crash at times, he's surely better than some of the others out there at the moment. 

Many options. One could be the Yamaha satellite team no one knows the name of anymore, or even the factory Yamaha if Morbidelli keeps disappointing. If Morbidelli didn't have a contract for next year I would sort of expect to see Rins end up at the factory team. But I also feel Viñales needs to start delivering not to risk his future at Aprilia. Right now Aleix looks MUCH better. I'd take a chance on Rins if I ran the team and Viñales didn't start to deliver soon. Having said that, I'd take Rins over both Zarco and Miller too, just saying... I feel he is too good not to get a decent ride.

God, that’s really bad news and such a shame, really didn’t see it coming. They’ve won a championship and everything. Smallest budget, amazing results, all looking like it might come good this year. One of the most disappointing team withdrawals for a long time.

Indeed. It would be understandable if they were uncompetitive, but this...    

When was the last time a team this competitive pulled out?

Edited by Lennat, 02 May 2022 - 21:23.

I take a dim view of a motorcycle company who doesn't treat racing seriously. Honda & Yamaha have racing in their DNA, across many categories of motorcycle sport. Suzuki pulling out of MotoGP, and as yet they're not in any of the other major global championships (WSBK, MXGP, Enduro).

In fairness, the budget for every other FIM global series Suzuki is in, put together, is less than MotoGP. And the people buying Gixxers would keep buying them if the only contest Suzuki entered was a neighbourhood round of the dozens.

For Suzuki’s corporate management, MotoGP might have been an annual agony they’d been trying to kill for a while.

Given Suzuki's current motorcycle offerings, I would argue they aren't terribly interested in motorcycles period....

Not really surprised or shocked by it. Here are some reasons.

https://www.motorcyc...ki-motorcycles/

https://www.outlooki...oes-news-194548

Yes, but it feels a bit different from 2008-2009 GEC... almost like a tailspin they may not recover from.

https://www.superbik...-annual-report/

https://www.superbik...-out-of-motogp/

Edited by ehagar, 03 May 2022 - 04:28.

Surprising, and most disappointing.

Yep, he's in big trouble if what Lin Jarvis said post-race at Jerez is any guide. It's easier to fix a fast crasher than someone finishing half a minute behind his team-mate. I would pick Rins over him.

This is so confusing. We know Morbidelli is a very good rider. He almost took the title in 2020. Now he is a slow rider all of a sudden!? Smth doesn't add up.

This is a utter shock to me, MotoGP the last two years have been amazing to watch, top line motor racing - and with them winning the championship too.

With no Suzuki, no Kawasaki, no BMW etc - we are only left with 4 of big brands left in the sport, I can't see that being very healthy for the championship long term.

Maybe Suzuki accomplished what they set out to do on the budget they had. Win a championship and be a player at the front. Both boxes checked.
We should be glad they came back and were a challenger.
Maybe they see the financial future and it doesn't look good.

That's not the issue: the company simply doesn't have the money to compete. Right now, Suzuki is an obsolete brand and is starting to paying the price.

Maybe Suzuki accomplished what they set out to do on the budget they had. Win a championship and be a player at the front. Both boxes checked.
We should be glad they came back and were a challenger.
Maybe they see the financial future and it doesn't look good.

Exactly. No-one owes it to us to spend their money on racing just so we can watch it on TV.

Dorna says their contract doesn’t permit this:

https://twitter.com/...AC2EemTwlSlCnUg

e. “ “Following recent rumours of Suzuki departing MotoGP at the end of 2022, Dorna Sports has officially contacted the factory in order to remind them that the conditions of their contract to race in MotoGP do not allow for them to take this decision unilaterally. 

“However, should Suzuki depart following an agreement between both parties, Dorna will decide on the ideal number of riders and teams racing in the MotoGP class from 2023.

“Dorna continues to receive high levels of interest from a number of both official factories and Independent Teams looking to join the MotoGP grid as the sport continues to set a global example of close competition, innovation and entertainment, reaching hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

“Interest from these parties has been re-confirmed in the past 24 hours.” 

Sounds like Dorna are fully expecting a payoff!

The word is that the two Suzuki bikes will be replaced by two extra Aprilias run by a satellite team.

MotoGP-land is looking quite healthy on the surface but between the Suzuki pull-out and Yamaha's ongoing failure to replace Tech 3 as a credible and sustainable B-team, there are signs of trouble.

Not related to their bikes, but interesting...

https://www.reuters....ing-2022-04-27/

Edited by ehagar, 03 May 2022 - 16:00.

Seems like hard times are coming to Hamamatsu.  They didn't see where the future was leading, and now may be too far down the wrong path to change direction in time...

This is a utter shock to me, MotoGP the last two years have been amazing to watch, top line motor racing - and with them winning the championship too.

 

With no Suzuki, no Kawasaki, no BMW etc - we are only left with 4 of big brands left in the sport, I can't see that being very healthy for the championship long term.

Business downturns will always happen and very arguably Dorna have done well to ensure that their championship isn't too dependent on the large-volume manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki.

Those financial statements are really revealing though.  Suzuki, one of the "Big 4" Japanese motorcycle companies, sells less than 200k bikes a year.  Kawasaki 400k. (Less surprising given how much else Kawasaki do).  Honda make 10 million.  The scale is so different it gives a real sense of who can afford to care about racing and who can't.

Not related to their bikes, but interesting...

https://www.reuters....ing-2022-04-27/