Towards a new withdrawal of Suzuki from MotoGP?

The news came like a bolt from the blue late Monday afternoon in the paddock: Suzuki would leave the MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season. At the moment there has been no confirmation from the factory yet. However, our various sources within the team are more in this direction…

The Hamamatsu firm has already done something similar in the past. Suzuki in fact abandoned the premier category at the end of 2011, the last year of the 800cc era before the entry into force of the 1000cc that we know today. This decision followed the financial crisis of 2008.

Some key moments from Suzuki's MotoGP journey

The factory returned in 2015 with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales riding an all-new machine, the GSX-RR. Randy De Puniet was also able to evaluate it in real conditions as a guest driver during the final of the 2014 calendar in Valencia. The brand new project was then led by Davide Brivio, who now operates at Alpine en F1.

The Italian, who is behind the signing of Valentino Rossi at Yamaha in 2004, lifted the Japanese firm's project to the driver and team titles in 2020, this infamous season hit by Covid-19. Despite this first title in the premier category for Suzuki since 2000 with Kenny Roberts Jr, Brivio decided to leave for new horizons during the winter. The team did not choose to replace him, but rather to divide his functions between Shinichi Sahara, Suzuki MotoGP project manager, and Ken Kawauchi, technical manager.

If on paper this decision seemed possible, in practice it was not the case. In addition to having to develop the bikes, we also had to manage contracts, staff, sponsors... As a result (or not), since 2020, Suzuki has not won once. Of 11 podiums, including three victories, Suzuki riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir recorded only seven last year. Incidentally, development was delayed; for example, we only saw the ride height device appear at the rear at the Styrian GP last year compared to other factories which already had it well before.

For these many reasons, Livio Suppo was called in to take charge of the team before the opening of the 2022 season and is preparing for the future in the midst of negotiations. Rins and Mir being at the end of their contracts in 2022, a manager of Suppo's caliber was not a luxury, especially to approach flagship drivers like fabio quartararo. A new team manager, a more powerful engine developed during the winter, a 500th GP podium in Austin… everything seemed to be going like clockwork for Suzuki

No official confirmation… yet

But that was without counting on this news which surprised the entire paddock on Monday evening, starting with the staff members and the drivers. It is all the more surprising since the manufacturer signed last year the extension of its commitment with Dorna (promoter of the championship) until 2026. Moreover, the Spanish company did not fail to stipulate this via a press release issued on Tuesday recalling that the factory could not break this contract unilaterally (even if mutual agreement is of course possible).

Several reasons have been put forward by different media, most of them financial. Suzuki is in fact the only manufacturer on the grid not to have a title sponsor; Ecstar being an oil that emanates from the factory itself. In the context of a return to post-Covid normality, finding funding is more difficult than before 2020, even if Dorna has not hesitated to put its hand in its pocket over the last two years to help the whole from the paddock to keep their heads above water. Some also believe that Joan Mir's title would have made little noise compared to that of Fabio Quartararo last year, the health context not helping. The return on investment may have discouraged the factory.

Some also think that Suzuki, affected by Dieselgate in its auto branch, would take the lead in anticipation of possible financial sanctions. And others believe that Suzuki would rather focus on emerging markets like Asia to develop its two-wheel range rather than on more mature markets.

What about the 2023 grid?

In the event of a withdrawal, the MotoGP 2023 grid risks being completely turned upside down. Quartararo, in talks with Suzuki among others, should ultimately head for an extension at Yamaha.

According to Mir's manager, Paco Sanchez, in the columns of our colleagues at The Race, not having yet made an announcement is unprofessional on the part of Suzuki. Especially since Mir were in discussions to extend. The Majorcan's future should materialize in the Honda clan (or even Yamaha alongside Quartararo according to some rumors). As for Alex Rins, co-leader of the general after Portimão, the horizon is uncertain.

If it does not know if the grid will be maintained at 24 drivers, Dorna for its part indicated that manufacturers and teams were interested in recovering the two places from the Suzuki team. However, the arrival of a new manufacturer seems difficult. You don't enter MotoGP with a machine developed in a few months. This is why we can envisage the rise of GasGas to the premier category. On paper, it would be a new manufacturer like in Moto3, even if behind them are KTM RC16s.

Among the teams are Leopard Racing, which competes in Moto3, and American Racing, in Moto2, both of which have made no secret of their desire to take the plunge. With which manufacturer? Aprilia is looking to field two more RS-GPs. And with the results of A. Espargaro is a machine that is more attractive than a few years ago.

On the other hand, if the grid goes back to 22 riders, in a game of musical chairs, two riders will logically find themselves without handlebars and a few defectors from Moto2 could move up like Celestino Vietti and Ai Ogura; the Japanese being approached at LCR in place of Takaaki Nakagami. Andrea Dovizioso could retire for good, but the equation is not yet balanced: Pol Espargaro, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins would find themselves with their noses in the water.

It was Golden Week in Japan with four public holidays, which may be part of the reason why there hasn't been an official statement from Suzuki yet. The few days preceding the French GP risk generating a lot of ink.