Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/694857
IN THE WIND P38 SUZUKI EXTRIGGER GETS GREEN LIGHT S uzuki's electric answer to Honda's Grom and Kawasaki's Z125 Pro could well be coming to the States, with Suzuki filing patents for their EX- TRIGGER in China, Europe, and here in the U.S. The roaring success of the Honda Grom, released to an unsuspecting public back in 2013, got the Hamamatsu company thinking about an alternative little bike, but one powered by electric- ity, not gasoline. The choice is poignant as the EX- TRIGGER will more likely be a mess-around bike rather than a real means of transportation (think pit duties, bar hopping and breaking into your local skate park). At the 2015 EICMA Show, Suzuki mentioned there would be a deluge of new models coming over the next couple of years, headlined by the 2017 GSX-R1000, and an electric Grom killer would certainly give Suzuki a point of difference over the very similarly powered 125cc singles of Kawasaki and Honda. CN ALEX RINS SIGNS WITH SUZUKI M oto2 championship con- tender Alex Rins has signed with the factory Team Suzuki Ec- star outfit in MotoGP in place of the departing Aleix Espargaro. Rins has been hotly tipped to jump to the premier class, but in- sisted on doing so with a factory team. His move to Suzuki now means Moto2 World Champion Johann Zarco, who had an op- tion to join Suzuki next year in a satellite outfit and who made his MotoGP debut in a private test in Japan with Suzuki recently, will now most likely take up the second seat at Tech3 Yamaha alongside Jonas Folger. "Alex Rins is a young rider who has already proven to have much talent, always fighting within the top positions of the World Championship since his debut in every class, making him the type of rider who we want to support for the future," said Suzuki Team Manager Davide Brivio. "To pair Andrea Iannone, an experienced rider, with such a young talent as Alex creates a perfect combination for our challenge. We believe that these two riders, together with the fur- ther development of the Suzuki GSX-RR, can help us to create a strong team to compete at the maximum level. It wasn't an easy choice and we feel sorry for Aleix who we would like to thank for his hard work and the real passion he has continued to put in our project since it started. We wish him all the best for his future but in the meantime we will support him as best as we can to try to get the best pos- sible results together until the end of this season." Espargaro is tipped to take the second seat at Aprilia along- side the already confirmed Sam Lowes. CN Suzuki is set to answer Honda's Grom and Kawasaki's Z125 Pro with its own. Alex Rins heads to Suzuki.