2021 MOTOGP SEASON PREVIEW
P90
Feature
SUZUKI If It Ain't Broke…
You have to go back to 1981 and the
days of Marco Lucchinelli and Randy
Mamola when Suzuki last had two of its
riders in the top three in a premier class
championship. The factory's forward
thinking meant it had brought its 2022-
spec engine to Qatar for riders to test.
Yet upgrading the GSX-RR proved a touch
more difficult. The curtailed test meant
Mir was unable to give a full assessment
of a new chassis and bemoaned "only
one of 10 (new parts we tested) probably
works." He conceded one-lap pace—Su-
zuki's big weakness last year—is "really
difficult to change without changing the
engine." But both he and Rins were con-
sistent, especially later in their long runs.
But the biggest question mark
hanging over the Hamamatsu factory
remains the departure of figurehead Da-
vide Brivio. A seven-man 'Management
Committee' headed by Project Leader
Shinichi Sahara will decide on all mat-
ters ranging from development direction
to running a Suzuki satellite team in
2022. The decision to not directly re-
place the Italian represents something
of a gamble.
Joan Mir goes into
his title defense
with a largely
unchanged Suzuki
GSX-RR. Will it
be enough to
thwart his many
challengers?
