The MotoGP philosophy Suzuki’s “madman” installed that Honda and Yamaha can’t

The philosophy change imposed in MotoGP by the European brands, led by Ducati, has left Yamaha and Honda feeding off scraps. Curiously, it’s an approach that former Japanese rival Suzuki was able to adopt with success prior to its untimely exit at the end of 2022. The key individual behind it explains all

In a decision that caught everyone by surprise – from the members of the team itself to the rest of the paddock – Suzuki decided in early 2022 to shut down its MotoGP programme at the end of the campaign. Despite the brutal blow for the Hamamatsu-based team, which had to face most of the year with an uncertain future, the manufacturer left the championship in the best possible way from a sporting perspective, with two victories in the last three rounds.

Those two wins scored by Alex Rins in Australia and Valencia certified that the GSX-RR was one of the best bikes on the grid, if not the most complete of them all. With the base of that same bike, two years earlier, Joan Mir had brought the title back to Suzuki two decades after Kenny Roberts Jr was crowned in 2000.

The 2022 Suzuki combined the agility of the best Yamaha with the extra power that the engineers had found, which allowed Rins and Mir to hold their nerve on the straights against the all-powerful Ducati. That bike was the perfect metaphor to explain what was achieved by those responsible for thinking, articulating and executing the MotoGP project, with Davide Brivio at the helm.

The Italian succeeded in harmonising the Japanese-based engineers in charge of the bike’s design and evolution with the operational part of the racing team, mostly made up of European technicians, responsible for optimising trackside performance. These are two realities that live far apart from each other, as it is clear to anyone in discussions with Honda or Yamaha personnel without a recorder running.

KTM and Aprilia understood a long time ago that hiring key parts from the competition would increase their level of competitiveness. This is a logical practice not only limited to MotoGP. Evidence of this is the leap in quality made in Formula 1 this year by Aston Martin, who hired from Red Bull and Mercedes some of the most important members of their organisations. This approach, which Suzuki also followed, is not on the table for Honda or Yamaha, who are reluctant to look for talent outside their borders.

As MotoGP’s summer break draws to a close, Yamaha and Honda sit in the last two spots on the manufacturers’ championship table. Yamaha has just two podiums to its credit, while the Honda has spent more time injuring its riders than it has finishing races. Alex Rins did score an incredible victory in Austin to end its drought, but that has so far proven an outlier as Honda has yet to get close to a podium again. 

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