Suzuki quitting MotoGP at the end of 2022

MichaelBolton · May 10, 2022

mylexicon said:
Mat Oxley teasing some sort of bombshell report tomorrow. Maybe Suzuki aren’t leaving? Maybe a technical regulation change. We’ll see.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/...bshell-some-teams-are-cheating-the-tyre-rules

Might be worth its own thread, I'll leave it to the others

Keshav · May 10, 2022

Hollywood said:
Road racing in America has become a very hard thing to get into. There are hardly any entry or developmental racing series left. Club racing has become harder to get into, thus fewer people can get involved.

Club racing in the ‘70s and ‘80s was a melange of riders from all different financial backgrounds. You could race a (I did) FZ600 that was a low-rent effort, basically a stock bike (tuned by Kevin Cameron) with Wiseco pistons, Supertrapp pipe, Kehin flatslides, $40.00 White Power steering damper, $50.00 rear-sets, $25.00 fork brace, braided lines, aftermarket fork springs, $40.00 case guards . . . All of which ended up costing less than $4,000.00 - and it could be entered in F2, Middle-Weight Superbike and Battle of The Twins. And you would be racing against guys are full-out factory RS250s in F2, $30,000.00 Ducatis in BOTT, and under the radar Honda Hurricanes with insane amounts of cash invested in them (Daddy owned 3 Honda dealerships) in Middle-Weight Superbike. The guy who towed his 7 year old RZ350 with his ancient Subaru who lived on ...... burgers from the canteen and slept at night in the paddock in a pup tent, would be parked next to yuppie kid with a full Yoshimura GSXR750 who came with a mechanic and slept in a $70,000.00 RV and cooked sirloin steaks for lunch.

From what I’ve seen of club racing now, it’s pretty much all the latter, except the guy in the RV now eats vegan and gluten free.

#22 · May 10, 2022

Keshav said:
From what I recall of his interviews, Spies had been very hesitant to come to Europe at all. He was in his element in World Superbike, but I don’t think he ever felt MotoGP was where he belonged. Always got the feeling that he felt pushed and prodded to go to MotoGP, like his heart really wasn’t in it.

I thought he had a 2 yr contract of 09 and 10 in WSBK and asked Yamaha if he could go to GP a year early? I may be wrong in that recollection.

Keshav said:
Club racing in the ‘70s and ‘80s was a melange of riders from all different financial backgrounds. You could race a (I did) FZ600 that was a low-rent effort, basically a stock bike (tuned by Kevin Cameron) with Wiseco pistons, Supertrapp pipe, Kehin flatslides, $40.00 White Power steering damper, $50.00 rear-sets, $25.00 fork brace, braided lines, aftermarket fork springs, $40.00 case guards . . . All of which ended up costing less than $4,000.00 - and it could be entered in F2, Middle-Weight Superbike and Battle of The Twins. And you would be racing against guys are full-out factory RS250s in F2, $30,000.00 Ducatis in BOTT, and under the radar Honda Hurricanes with insane amounts of cash invested in them (Daddy owned 3 Honda dealerships) in Middle-Weight Superbike. The guy who towed his 7 year old RZ350 with his ancient Subaru who lived on ...... burgers from the canteen and slept at night in the paddock in a pup tent, would be parked next to yuppie kid with a full Yoshimura GSXR750 who came with a mechanic and slept in a $70,000.00 RV and cooked sirloin steaks for lunch.

From what I’ve seen of club racing now, it’s pretty much all the latter, except the guy in the RV now eats vegan and gluten free.

Same with all racing now. I'm still doing it and have a 6x10 trailer then either sleep in a tent at the track or grab a hotel. Even in regional or club races there are people there is semi trucks and trailers that probably cost as much as my house. I'm never going to compete with that.

mylexicon · May 10, 2022

MichaelBolton said:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/...bshell-some-teams-are-cheating-the-tyre-rules

Might be worth its own thread, I'll leave it to the others

Probably worth its own thread. Rampant cheating. Leaked official document. Bagnaia was the most egregious offender at Jerez.

Not sure whether a tire pressure scandal is a bombshell report, but Oxley did manage to score an official document, and he uncovered the gentleman's agreement between Michelin and IRTA or the MSMA not to enforce the tire pressure regulations.

Honestly, I'm not really sure if this matters. Michelin could recommend a tire pressure they know to be safe, but obviously they want their tires to turn the best lap times so they don't care if teams want to experiment a bit.

Plus, we've all seen someone struggling with excessive tire pressures, which apparently make the carcass too stiff, which impairs bike handling. Fabio has complained about this numerous times so far.

#22 · May 10, 2022

mylexicon said:
Honestly, I'm not really sure if this matters. Michelin could recommend a tire pressure they know to be safe, but obviously they want their tires to turn the best lap times so they don't care if teams want to experiment a bit.

Loris Baz would disagree with you:

This was the incident that brought in the 'minimum tyre pressure' rule, and if riders/teams aren't following it, surely it presents a safety issue?

Keshav · May 10, 2022

#22 said:
Loris Baz would disagree with you:

This was the incident that brought in the 'minimum tyre pressure' rule, and if riders/teams aren't following it, surely it presents a safety issue?

Possibly a poor quality control issue.

I’ve no recollection of this ever happening when Bridgestone was making the tires.

#22 · May 10, 2022

Keshav said:
Possibly a poor quality control issue.

I’ve no recollection of this ever happening when Bridgestone was making the tires.

Possibly, but:

Tire pressure sensors will be mandatory in MotoGP for the 2016 season following Loris Baz’s dramatic crash in testing at Sepang this week.

Avintia Ducati rider Baz suffered what appeared to be a rear tyre blowout at 180mph on the Malaysian Grand Prix track’s main straight. He escaped the accident with bruising and was able to resume testing later the same day.

MotoGP commercial chief Carmelo Ezpeleta said the Grand Prix Commission had “approved very fast” the tire sensor decision in its meeting in Geneva on Friday.

“The system to do this will be proposed by the MSMA members in Phillip Island and this issue is something to resolve immediately,” he said.

Returning MotoGP tyre supplier Michelin withdrew its soft compound from use for the remainder of the test after Baz’s crash and introducing new tire pressure stiupulations as an immediate response.

https://racer.com/2016/02/05/tyre-sensors-mandated-after-baz-crash/

Hollywood · May 10, 2022

Keshav said:
From what I’ve seen of club racing now, it’s pretty much all the latter, except the guy in the RV now eats vegan and gluten free.

club road racing today is mostly guys in their late 30s early 40s, most on newish bikes, all in the same socioeconomic class. no kids, no cheap bikes, and you cant secretly own a Harley.

I grew up racing in the 90's, back when there were still classes for kids, we had NSR50s, rs125 and rs250s. there were plenty of kids racing back then, and it was also fairly cheap.

mylexicon · May 10, 2022

#22 said:
Loris Baz would disagree with you:

This was the incident that brought in the 'minimum tyre pressure' rule, and if riders/teams aren't following it, surely it presents a safety issue?

Baz might disagree, and Nakano, whose crash at Mugello is the only illustration (I can recall) of a Bridgestone exploding, though it was a half decade before control tires.

However, the tire delamination may have been caused by an improperly mounted tire. This could also be detected by tire pressure sensors. Not saying that's what happened, but it's possible.

I do think the perception of safety and legal liability is what kept the teams in check, despite all of them agreeing not to have an enforcement mechanism. Either the field has tightened up such that teams want to take chances or the '22 spec tires are rewarding people who break the agreement.

In the end, a gentlemen's agreement and honor system are breaking down, and being replaced with proper regulations. Not sure if it's a major scandal, though it is critical information for fans.

PRS717 · May 10, 2022

Keshav said:
Possibly a poor quality control issue.

I’ve no recollection of this ever happening when Bridgestone was making the tires.

Wasn't there also a year at PI when a bunch of tires were throwing off rubber in chunks?

Keshav · May 10, 2022

Hollywood said:
club road racing today is mostly guys in their late 30s early 40s, most on newish bikes, all in the same socioeconomic class. no kids, no cheap bikes, and you cant secretly own a Harley.

I grew up racing in the 90's, back when there were still classes for kids, we had NSR50s, rs125 and rs250s. there were plenty of kids racing back then, and it was also fairly cheap.

Yep. I have a vivid memory of the young guys going out in the earliest morning practice on frail looking NSR50s, and despite it being the coldest part of the morning, you could tell they were having fun. Yeah... I remember a lot of guys in their late teens club racing. I was 36 when I quit (broken hip and three fractured vertabrae, ..... insurance, no physical therapy, took a year for me to walk right) and I remember feeling ancient compared to most of the guys I raced against.

Keshav · May 10, 2022

PRS717 said:
Wasn't there also a year at PI when a bunch of tires were throwing off rubber in chunks?

Happened to Nakano in 2004 (Bridgestone)

2013 PI saw multiple Bridgestones fall apart - tho that was widely attributed to the track being newly resurfaced and super abrasive

Happened to Redding in 2016 (Michelin)

Rossi had multiple tire related DNFs in 2016 on Michelins, for sure a factor in his campaign to switch to Bridgestones

Bern1 · May 10, 2022

Hollywood said:
club road racing today is mostly guys in their late 30s early 40s, most on newish bikes, all in the same socioeconomic class. no kids, no cheap bikes, and you cant secretly own a Harley.

I grew up racing in the 90's, back when there were still classes for kids, we had NSR50s, rs125 and rs250s. there were plenty of kids racing back then, and it was also fairly cheap.

I raced at willow Springs for 2 years in the late 90’s. There was every kind of machine and every age of rider participating and every socioeconomic level represented. There has always been middle aged and older, wealthier guys running as well.

Today the wealth disparity is such that people on the lower rungs of the money hierarchy can barely afford to put gas in their cars to go to work, let alone go racing or anything like that. They used to be able to go racing on the cheap. I was one of them.

Bern1 · May 10, 2022

Keshav said:
From what I’ve seen of club racing now, it’s pretty much all the latter, except the guy in the RV now eats vegan and gluten free.

The people doing on the cheap are probably also vegan, they can’t afford steak at the racetrack.

Bern1 · May 10, 2022

Hey the rules is the rules. Gentleman’s agreement means it’s not a rule.

Would love to see this blow up in Dorna’s face and everybody get back to going as quick as they want.

All these ....... nanny rules in the “prototype” class is .........

Bern1 · May 10, 2022

Sorry, to be more precise, I was talking about the rules flouting on the minimum pressure.

My money is on Fabio taking it to Pecco if he had run lower pressure as well.

RossiSucchia · May 11, 2022

#22 said:
Well JPS, you win the shocking post of the year.

Never saw that coming and neither did the team members it seems. So they say Mir will likely go to Repsol Honda. Could Rins make a deal with Yamaha to replace Dovi or Morbidelli?

This also leaves 2 slots in the championship free for a team (or manufacturer) to come on board.

Nah that will be whoever posts first about Ducati cheating with non regulation tyre pressures... everyone knew (including Dorna) but did nothing even when teams complained.

Mind you, Dona are going to do nothing to Ducati... when a third of the field are Ducati's. This should never have been aloowed to happen, Ducati can and are now breaking and bending rules with little fear of reprisals.

perhaps Suzuki have had enough of the cheating??????

mylexicon · May 11, 2022

RossiSucchia said:
Nah that will be whoever posts first about Ducati cheating with non regulation tyre pressures... everyone knew (including Dorna) but did nothing even when teams complained.

Mind you, Dona are going to do nothing to Ducati... when a third of the field are Ducati's. This should never have been aloowed to happen, Ducati can and are now breaking and bending rules with little fear of reprisals.

perhaps Suzuki have had enough of the cheating??????

If you look at the tire pressure document, Rins is implicated as well. I doubt Suzuki are worried about other manufacturers breaking the rules.

RossiSucchia · May 12, 2022

mylexicon said:
If you look at the tire pressure document, Rins is implicated as well. I doubt Suzuki are worried about other manufacturers breaking the rules.

Fair enough...

#22 · May 12, 2022

Suzuki finally release an official statement:

"Suzuki Motor Corporation is in discussions with Dorna regarding the possibility of ending its participation in MotoGP at the end of 2022," the statement read.

"Unfortunately, the current economical situation and the need to concentrate its effort on the big changes that the automotive world is facing in these years, are forcing Suzuki to shift costs and human resources to develop new technologies.

"We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our Suzuki Ecstar Team, to all those who have supported Suzuki's motorcycle racing activities for many years and to all Suzuki fans who have given us their enthusiastic support."

So basically as some of us said, they need to redirect finances into automotive R&D.

Suzuki quitting MotoGP at the end of 2022

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