Suzuki is (really) leaving MotoGP. Will it be back?

For anyone who still had any doubts, Suzuki’s plan to leave MotoGP is serious and soon to be activated. The Hamamatsu manufacturer has decided – no prototype top class as of 2023, a move it has already made several times in the past. So will it repeat this in-out trend of the past, or is this really the end of the line? 

Bye bye GSX-RR. The most beautiful MotoGP of them all

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If you don’t agree, add your comments below. Or perhaps you do agree? Is the GSX-RR not the most beautiful of the 2022 MotoGP bikes? Everyone has their own tastes of course, but we still struggle to find people who don’t agree that the Hamamatsu bike is the most appealing on the grid.

The unexaggerated aerodynamic configuration, the silver and blue livery, the “Suzuki” lettering that slices through the line, the Akrapovic double race exhaust, the sound, the smell. The smell? Yes, the bike emits a pleasant aroma that the technicians appreciate.

This is thanks to the work of the Ecstar team, which used particularly pleasant-smelling lubricants. The same goes for KTM, but we prefer to inhale the trail left by Alex Rins and Joan Mir. The Spanish duo will in fact remain in MotoGP, with Rins aboard the LCR Honda and Mir taking to the factory RC213 V. 

In and out: Suzuki is “used” to coming and going

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Suzuki might be used to it, but we’re not. And yet we should get used to it. The manufacturer arrived in 1974, completing its first full season in the 500 class, followed by 1975. Despite podiums and wins, it was then a case of goodbye, see you later.

Over the years, and despite titles with Barry Sheene, Franco Uncini and Marco Lucchinelli, the brand was flaunted on tanks and fairings and support from Japan was guaranteed but the teams were never factory outfits. It was not until 1987 that Garry Taylor & partners managed to convince the management and racing department, scoring two wins thanks to Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Junior, in 1993 and 2000.

With the two strokes gone, the GSV-RR four-stroke landed in MotoGP. And then it was gone again. But the difference between now and then is that the situation appeared clearer back in 2011, and there was the promise of a return. This is in fact what happened, the GSX-RR and a new team Ecstar debuting in 2015 and doing rather well. The highlight? Joan Mir on top of the world two years ago.

This time there’s no promise from Suzuki. Only problems to resolve

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And so this is how it is for now, although we sure hope for a turnaround. Suzuki has stopped producing its sports models, concentrating its resources in other departments. What does this mean? Well it means that until they have robots (hypothetically) assembling the GSX-R 1000 of the future, then no racing.

And no MotoGP, unfortunately. And no SBK, and so on. Unless any individual teams choose to use already produced material, tuned in the workshop perhaps but limited in terms of technological development. So no more Suzuki in the world’s highest level motorcycle championships.

As for the four-wheeled world, those who live near the company swear that it’s all cars and few bikes right now. The exact opposite of what it was doing until 2019. Too bad, but what can we do except hope for a change of plan and a shift in mentality?

Traslated by Heather Watson

DOVIZIOSO CONFIRMS: "I WON’T RACE IN MOTOGP IN 2023”