Ducatis.
All the more shocking that
this was the swan song. The
last cards in their hand. At least
Suzuki was quitting while it was
ahead.
Suzuki played a blinder when
the Hamamatsu top brasses
decided earlier this year that
the game of MotoGP wasn't
worth the candle. Or any other
flammable fuel. Citing difficult
economic times and the need to
concentrate on alternative power
and their new electric car enter-
prises, they pulled the plug.
To the shock and conster-
nation not only of their entire
factory racing department
(endurance and off-road as well
as MotoGP), their flabbergasted
riders and grand prix team, but
also the whole of racing.
What could have possessed
a company whose original
DNA was based on the racing
success of their adventurous
two-strokes of the 1960s, using
advanced technology acquired
(with some skulduggery) from
the East German MZ pioneering
work of Walter Kaaden?
It's because of a senior
management far removed from
the race-department shop floor,
where engineering prowess
I
n a year when Honda failed
to win a single race, when
Yamaha had to rely on super-
human riding to compete, when
KTM struggled to consolidate its
gains, and when Aprilia blazed
bright only to slip back out of
the limelight, Suzuki closed the
season on a high.
Two wins in the last three
races showed a bike and a team
finding superb form. The much-
admired GSX-RR, finely bal-
anced, well-rounded and sleekly
handsome in a way most of the
aero-bedecked rivals had long
since abandoned, was the bike
to outrace even the dominant
P114
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
It's still a bit of a mystery
why Suzuki pulled out
of MotoGP, especially
winning two of the last
three races on one of the
best motorcycles on the
grid.
PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE
WHAT DOES SUZUKI'S
SWAN SONG MEAN?
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
