Suzuki plan to make a return to MotoGP in 2014 – MotoGP news
According to CEO of Dorna Sports Carmelo Ezpeleta, Suzuki are now planning for a return to the MotoGP arena in the 2014 season.
“Suzuki are asking us to have some testing during the 2013 season and if everything goes well maybe we will see them in 2014,” Ezpeleta said while talking to BBC sports.
Suzuki’s temporary suspension from MotoGP racing was officially confirmed on November 18, 2011. Financial crisis was the major cause of Suzuki’s suspension from MotoGP racing.
“This suspension is to cope with tough circumstances mainly caused by the prolonged recession in developed countries, a historical appreciation of Japanese Yen and repeated natural disasters,” read a press release by Suzuki Motor Corporation.
Suzuki have kept their hopes of return to MotoGP alive. According to Spain's Solo Moto magazine, they are currently working on an Inline four-cylinder engine configuration giving up the V4 design.
“The Suzuki 1000cc project is still under development. We are just lacking some budget to race,” Nobuatsu Aoki, former MotoGP racer and test rider told crash.net
Suzuki had also approached Cal Crutchlow, the English rider but could not get his signatures. Although Carl is relatively new in the motorcycling world, having made his MotoGP debut in 2011, yet he has all the potential to be one of the best riders and that
is the very reason he was approached by Suzuki. Also, in their efforts towards a re-entry in MotoGP, Suzuki have reportedly signed Aspar's Randy de Puniet as a test rider.
MotoGP currently has three official manufacturers at the moment, Honda, Yamaha and Ducati. Addition of Suzuki to the manufacturers list would mean the number would equal the number of manufacturers in Formula 1.
According to Ezpeleta, that should not be a big problem as the main concern was to have better and more competitive races.
“The main thing is to have more competitive races. If we can do that with more manufacturers than that is even better, but having competitive bikes is the key,” said Ezpeleta.
During their 10 years presence in MotoGP (2002-2011), the track record for Suzuki as a manufacturer has not been that great. In 2002, they stood 3rd in the manufacturer’s standings with 143 points, way behind Yamaha who were 2nd with 272 points. None of
the Suzuki drivers won even a single race in that season. They dropped down to 5th with only 43 points in 2003. Same was the result for Suzuki in 2004 and 2005. In fact, in the years to follow, Suzuki never even went beyond 4th in the manufacturer’s standings
even until they suspended their MotoGP run in 2011.
One can only hope that Suzuki will rejoin MotoGP with a better strategy and MotoGP fans will be able to witness better performance from the Suzuki riders when they return.
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