Suzuki Aiming At MotoGP Return For 2014 Season

By David Emmett | Tue, 03/04/2012 - 14:04

When Suzuki announced that they would be pulling out of MotoGP at the end of the 2011 season, they were keen to emphasize that the withdrawal was only temporary, saying they were planning a return to MotoGP in 2014. Though many paddock regulars were sceptical about such a suggestion, Suzuki are sticking to their guns, it seems. In an interview with Italian website GPOne.com, Suzuki Racing's technical director Shinichi Sahara reaffirmed that they were still working towards a 2014 return to MotoGP, based on the motorcycle the factory had been developing before the decision was made to pull out.

"We already had our 1000cc bike ready when Suzuki's management decided to pull out of MotoGP," Sahara told GPOne.com. "The bike has already been tested at Ryuyo, and we were very satisfied with the results achieved. We still believe we will return in 2014 with a competitive bike," Sahara said. The Japanese engineer was also asked if Suzuki had switched to an in-line four, and though he said he could not give technical details, he did reveal that Suzuki had chose to "stay faithful to our engine layout," a hint that the bike will remain a V4.

Sahara also revealed the extent to which Suzuki is backing the Crescent Fixi Suzuki effort in World Superbikes. The factory's support was mainly limited to financially backing the team, Sahara told GPOne.com, and its technical involvement limited. Yoshimura - responsible for preparing the engines for Paul Denning's Crescent team - had very close ties with Suzuki, and Yoshimura's development was being guided by input from Suzuki's racing department. The chassis and setup, though, were entirely in the hands of the Crescent team, Sahara said. "Crescent is perfectly capable of doing that on their own," he added.

MotoGP
World Superbikes
Imola, Italy
Suzuki

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Comments

David, is there any chance Suzuki might make their comeback with a lower spec and sell the bikes to a certain UK based team to operate under CRT rules?

Let us hope a new 1000cc MotoGP Suzuki is more successful than the 990 they ran. When they first tested that at Sepang, Mat Mladin lapped faster on a GSX-R1000 Superbike. That should have told them something...

The way Dorna is changing rules 2014 is a long way off and it is hard to believe that a bike developed in 2011 would be any where near relevant in 2014. To start with they need to chuck on quite a few kilo's of weight, change the engine to make the most of the lower RPM ceiling and potential spec ECU that will be in place and then develop the chassis to work with what ever tyres are being used by then. Not much left from what they have already developed that will be relevant.

Then we need to consider if Factory bikes will even be on the grid come 2014/15.

I hope Suzuki make a come back but would be very surprised if it is with a Factory Race bike. Maybe it will be an SRT to match the ART in the CRTGP WC!