Suzuki pulls out of MotoGP
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Honestly, are they going to be missed? Is anyone going to be pining for a return of the baby blue midpack team?
Suzuki has basically phoned it in for over a decade. They never were "all-in" to MotoGP in the four-stroke era and it showed in their (lack of) results. Ironic for a company that basically owned national-level Superbike racing throughout the 2000's to struggle so much in a series without production bike constraints. You would think if they could build an awesome superbike based on a production machine, they could also build a great pure racebike, but it never was the case.
Bautista on an HRC or near-HRC-spec RC213V would be very interesting. No one really knows how good he is since he didn't have a teammate at Suzuki in 2011. With equal equipment he might be near the front, as Simoncelli was doing once he learned how to finish a race.
Suzuki has basically phoned it in for over a decade. They never were "all-in" to MotoGP in the four-stroke era and it showed in their (lack of) results. Ironic for a company that basically owned national-level Superbike racing throughout the 2000's to struggle so much in a series without production bike constraints. You would think if they could build an awesome superbike based on a production machine, they could also build a great pure racebike, but it never was the case.
Bautista on an HRC or near-HRC-spec RC213V would be very interesting. No one really knows how good he is since he didn't have a teammate at Suzuki in 2011. With equal equipment he might be near the front, as Simoncelli was doing once he learned how to finish a race.
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This could be the precursor to the halting of all performance motorcycle production for Suzuki.
Too bad.
I highly doubt it. Of all the Japanese mfrs, I would think that Suzuki has the highest percentage of its sales tied to sportbikes (aka GSX-Rs). Love them or hate them, they hae been the dominant sellers in the market for quite some time now....
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Real pity after the great recent progress made with the bike (and Bautista).
Interesting to see they're likely going to switch from the V to the I4 config. It makes sense...one wonders why it took them so long to come to that realization. They make better, more efficient I4s than anyone else (OK, Bimmers may rightfully shout at that, and the occasional Kawasaki).
Perhaps they simply don't want to copy Yamaha with their cross-plane, which I think is a worthwhile change from the std 180 crank.
A real nice, short, dense, vertically stacked gearbox, modern, I4 with very large Bore/Stroke ratio, very tight cylinder spacing, long rods for low piston acceleration G forces, 6-speed seemless double-clutch, variable intake TL motor could be their saviour.
I'm dreaming again....
Interesting to see they're likely going to switch from the V to the I4 config. It makes sense...one wonders why it took them so long to come to that realization. They make better, more efficient I4s than anyone else (OK, Bimmers may rightfully shout at that, and the occasional Kawasaki).
Perhaps they simply don't want to copy Yamaha with their cross-plane, which I think is a worthwhile change from the std 180 crank.
A real nice, short, dense, vertically stacked gearbox, modern, I4 with very large Bore/Stroke ratio, very tight cylinder spacing, long rods for low piston acceleration G forces, 6-speed seemless double-clutch, variable intake TL motor could be their saviour.
I'm dreaming again....
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It is interesting that none of the CRT teams are even thinking of running a Suzuki engine either. One I saw was going to use Suter/Kawasaki, while others are BMW or Aprilia.
Honda, Yamaha, and MV are also not currently represented in the CRT teams. A backdoor CRT engine effort from the Big Four seems like a great way to research new possibilities for production engines that WSBK does not allow.
Denning stated that he hopes Suzuki can be on the grid in 2014. That seems very unlikely IMO, why completely disband the team then have to rebuild it in early 2013? In the unlikely event Suzuki did come back, IMO it would be run by the factory with all Japanese engineers and mechanics. Denning is probably out either way. A year spent observing the other bikes might give Suzuki a better idea where to go with a 2014 race bike, but actually being at the circuits and racing would probably be even better.
Honda, Yamaha, and MV are also not currently represented in the CRT teams. A backdoor CRT engine effort from the Big Four seems like a great way to research new possibilities for production engines that WSBK does not allow.
Denning stated that he hopes Suzuki can be on the grid in 2014. That seems very unlikely IMO, why completely disband the team then have to rebuild it in early 2013? In the unlikely event Suzuki did come back, IMO it would be run by the factory with all Japanese engineers and mechanics. Denning is probably out either way. A year spent observing the other bikes might give Suzuki a better idea where to go with a 2014 race bike, but actually being at the circuits and racing would probably be even better.
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Doesn't really matter. I mean why were there no 2011 gsxr's? No sales?
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I wonder where factory ends and CRT begins? Could Suzuki make a highly modified GSXR engine in stages for a CRT team (maybe bore/stroke and conrods first, then gearbox, etc), then use what is learned as a starting point for later projects?
IMO, the next gen of Japanese sportbikes will have a version of the double-clutch gearbox, or at least have that capability designed into them if the manufacturer wants to race with it down the road.
I would also expect the next-gen engines to all feature an 81mm bore.
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Warehouses were packed with 2010 inventory, no reason to bring over new stock with that much rotting on the floors and in the warehouses. They also had trouble homologating the 2011 dirtbikes due to the lack of shipments to the US.
The good news is that this is one less bike for Rossi to battle for 6th with.
He's now a 6th place rider instead of a 7th place rider.
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Suzuki got a lot out of MotoGp... namely engineering data to build a
competitive 4 stroke V4... now all they need to do is to produce an 1000cc and
600cc MotoGp inspired GSV4 for the dealers floor to recoup some of their Gp
investment which should excite the market place more than their old status quo I4...
competitive 4 stroke V4... now all they need to do is to produce an 1000cc and
600cc MotoGp inspired GSV4 for the dealers floor to recoup some of their Gp
investment which should excite the market place more than their old status quo I4...
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And that is the crunch right there.
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Yep, I've been keeping my eye on the market and I've found 2009/10 GSXR and CBRs. Not a lot but still a few brand new ones around.Warehouses were packed with 2010 inventory, no reason to bring over new stock with that much rotting on the floors and in the warehouses. They also had trouble homologating the 2011 dirtbikes due to the lack of shipments to the US.
The good news is that this is one less bike for Rossi to battle for 6th with.
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Finally. Like the proverbial inch you cannot scratch. Suzuki should have left long ago. I loved their bike and sincerely hoped they would bring out a road going replica since Suzuki is usually the company to take the risks, of the Japanese companies. But no go, so I never understood why they wasted time in the Honda series instead of going to WSC and other production racing classes where they shine.....per GPWeek. Deadline was friday and they have decided to pull out altogether. Can't blame them. They really weren't gaining anything from their GP effort the past few years.
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Suzuki and Kawasaki are synonymous with proddie racing, leave MGP to Honda and Yamaha. The budgets just aren't worth the (lack of) results. MGP, one more nail in the coffin of the MGP we know on the way to Rossi's retirement. They will really have to make some drastic changes to keep the teams interested. Even Honda won't want a Honda only series after a while. So how much of the grid is now Honda anyway?
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As much of the grid as Ducati was last year?
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Most of the back half.
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