Suzuki Quits Moto GP

[Doc]

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...p-suzuki-quits

[Jim]

who's left?

[scottieducati]

Such a freakin' shame. I wonder if they never got a 1000cc engine fully developed and couldn't afford the R&D costs... the 800 was making real strides and doing well. I'll miss pulling for them when the Ducati's were in the gravel...

[DucDave]

...pity...

[tsorfas]

wow if suzuki cant afford it what are the chances for an individual to make it

[TheIglu]

wow if suzuki cant afford it what are the chances for an individual to make it

I know, right?

I am pissed that F1 isn't more affordable.

[eboos]

Suzuki has been pissing in the wind with MotoGP for years. The only reason that they didn't drop out earlier is contractual obligations.

[Garandman]

wow if suzuki cant afford it what are the chances for an individual to make it

I'm not sure it's a matter of being able to afford it: Suzuki is a huge company with profits of over $500 million last year.

It's a matter of management focus and return on investment. VW bought the nearly 20% share sold by GM a while back, and the partnership has not gone well, so there are rumors that Suzuki will buy back the stock for up to $3 Billion.

Suzuki probably gets a much better return on their Superbike effort, which I'd imagine is a small fraction of the expense.

From CycleWorld:

The delay was because various factions within Suzuki were in dispute. The racing and marketing departments were for MotoGP, along with the international dealer network; but others thought the dwindling superbike market versus growing scooter and runabout sales meant racing was becoming irrelevant.

With Kawasaki having withdrawn in 2009, and now Suzuki, the series risks become irrelevant. From Yahoo Sports:

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of series promoters Dorna, warned this week that MotoGP is not sustainable at its current cost levels, with just 17 bikes on the grid this season.

“If we carry on this way, with the teams lacking the budget to have the bike leased, in 2013 we’ll only have two Hondas on the grid,” said Ezpeleta.

“The constructors…can’t change reality. This is reality: there’s no more money, we need to spend less. We can’t keep on watching anymore, we must act now.

[SVRACER01]

with the new 1000cc bikes next year i thought they were going to allow production based motors.

[RyanNicholson]

with the new 1000cc bikes next year i thought they were going to allow production based motors.

I was under the impression they were allowing the 800cc motors on a case by case basis, Suzuki included. Guess that didn't pan out. Production motors would be a few years behind in tech though wouldn't they?

Either way I'm not surprised by the announcement, its a shame either way though.

[Kenn157]

2014 return

[tsorfas]

i dont really understand the logic of removing yourself from the sport but having an immediate return date..

[Garandman]

i dont really understand the logic of removing yourself from the sport but having an immediate return date..

They were issued an ultimatum by Ezpaleta, so it sounds like what they might be saying is "We'll be back when he's replaced" or "When the rules are changed" or both.

[tsorfas]

They were issued an ultimatum by Ezpaleta, so it sounds like what they might be saying is "We'll be back when he's replaced" or "When the rules are changed" or both.

dont you think though the 1000 class would only benefit them as a team?

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" : Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.3; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/GRI40) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

with the new 1000cc bikes next year i thought they were going to allow production based motors.

I was under the impression they were allowing the 800cc motors on a case by case basis, Suzuki included. Guess that didn't pan out. Production motors would be a few years behind in tech though wouldn't they?

Either way I'm not surprised by the announcement, its a shame either way though.

Can't say I'm surprises either. Suzuki has been struggling for quite some time.
As for production based motors being down on power, some wsbk bikes are pushing 200hp so I'm not sure how "behind" they would be.

[Trackday Guru]

They were issued an ultimatum by Ezpaleta, so it sounds like what they might be saying is "We'll be back when he's replaced" or "When the rules are changed" or both.

Not true.

Suzuki is out for now on a 'temporary' basis only, due to a prolonged recession, an appreciation of Japanese Yen, and multiple natural disasters in Japan (and no dooubt the inter-departmental fueding going on as mentioned above).

Suzuki expects a full return to MotoGP in 2014.

Reminder - the company's slogan is "Own the racetrack".....you can't very well DO that if you ain't on it in the premier class, and you can bet that Suzuki knows it.

They'll be back....assuming, of course, that MotoGP still exists as the world's premier arena then.

[SVRACER01]

suzuki to return to the big show in 2015. looks like they are moving in the right direction too.




maybe Ducati should think about taking a year or 2 off too
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/moto...gp-open-entry/

[MaRce1o]

I dont believe theyre going factory though...but i could be wrong

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (GS3)

Do you mean that Suzuki will run in the open class like what ducati is doing?
That would hurt some feelings then. That video shows them being within a second of the leaders

[MaRce1o]

If I'm not mistaking yes. It would be like a satellite bike without the factory team in other words....at least its what ive heard

[SVRACER01]

those videos imply to me that they will be a factory team. but i also could be wrong

[MaRce1o]

They were supposed to make it this year too and they delayed it an extra year from what i remember

[MaRce1o]

When Bautista was running with them they werent a full factory team also

[LXnastynotch93]

Mark my words: Spies will be riding for Suzuki in 2015.

[SVRACER01]

words marked. wrong....but marked.
to be honest id rather see spies in either WSBK or BSB