VOL. 50 ISSUE 24 JUNE 18, 2013
P25
SUZUKI BACK ON TRACK
uzuki's MotoGP bike was all
revved up and ready to go at
tests the day after the Catalunyan GP – but the traditional racing company's proposed return
to the grid in 2014 suddenly got
a whole lot harder.
Factory tester Nobu Aoki and
Randy de Puniet (on loan from
the Aspar team) were on hand
for the first public ride, while
encouraging reports have been
filtering back from earlier shakedown tests in Japan, where de
Puniet got his first taste of the inline four-cylinder machine.
The snag was revealed by
Dorna, among plans to introduce
something similar to F1's Concord Agreement over the next
two years.
If Suzuki wants to join as a new
team, they will have to pay their
own way. The same is true of
any other new team, such as the
proposed Marc VDS vehicle for
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
S
Suzuki will return
to MotoGP, but
not until 2015.
Scott Redding.
The new guidelines for 2014
protect the existing teams with
24 entries, but newcomers will
get no financial support from
Dorna, no free freight allowance
and no free tires from Bridgestone.
Dorna made a number of con-
Randy de Puniet tested the Suzuki on Monday at
Catalunya and ended up eighth fastest.
cessions to Suzuki before the
company pulled out, with an extra engine allocation and reluctant acceptance of a one-rider
team. When the team quit anyway at the end of 2011, Ezpeleta
switched to the hard line.
He required that for Suzuki to
return they would have to buy
or otherwise negotiate an entry
from an existing team. So far,
nobody has offered an entry at
a price that Suzuki could contemplate; although links with the
Spanish Aspar team might still
bear fruit.
If they are accepted as a new
entry, Suzuki will have to carry a
significant financial burden.
On Monday, de Puniet posted
the eighth best time of the test,
trailing Jorge Lorenzo and the
factory Yamaha by .772 of a second.
Michael Scott
