Suzuki MotoGP

In 1971, Grand Prix racer Jack Findlay and his business partner Daniele Fontana constructed a racing motorcycle using a Suzuki T series engine with a chassis of their own design.[2] Findlay rode the motorcycle to victory in the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix marking the first victory for a Suzuki motorcycle in the premier 500cc class, as well as the first-ever 500cc class victory for a motorcycle powered by a two stroke engine.[2][3]

Suzuki first entered a works team in the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship in 1974 with riders Barry Sheene and Findlay riding the Suzuki RG500.[4] The motorcycle was designed by Makoto Hase using the proven square-four, two stroke engine architecture that Suzuki had developed during their successful Grand Prix racing program in the 1960s.[5] The RG 500 was proven successful in its first race at the 1974 500cc French Grand Prix when, Barry Sheene finished in second place behind the defending world champion, Phil Read. The team's first victory came in 1975, a pole-to-finish win by Barry Sheene at the Dutch TT. Sheene finished the season 6th overall with two wins.

Having developed the RG500, Suzuki ceded direct control of their Grand Prix racing program to their British importer, Suzuki GB in 1976 so that, they could concentrate on developing they first four stroke motorcycle, the Suzuki GS series.[5] Barry Sheene won the riders' championship in 1976 with a total of five wins.[4] Sheene's second 500cc riders' championship came in 1977 with six wins. Teammate Steve Parrish was fifth.

In 1978 with two wins on the new Suzuki RGA, Sheene finished second in the championship behind Yamaha rider Kenny Roberts. Teammate Wil Hartog was fourth overall, also won two races. The 1979 championship was again won by Roberts with Virginio Ferrari finishing second, Barry Sheene third and Wil Hartog fourth, all riding the new Suzuki RGB.[4]

Randy Mamola and Graeme Crosby joined Suzuki in 1980. While Yamaha rider Roberts won his third title, Suzuki riders Mamola was second, and Marco Lucchinelli third. Lucchinelli became the 500cc World Champion in 1981 riding the new Suzuki RG 500 gamma for the Roberto Gallina racing team.[6]

Lucchinelli left Suzuki to join Honda in 1982. He was replaced on the Gallina team by Franco Uncini who went on to win the World Championship with five wins. Uncini was severely injured at the Dutch TT at Assen in 1983 and was unable to defend his title. Suzuki withdrew factory support at the end of the season.[6]

After three years away Suzuki returned in 1987 with factory supported entries. While not a full-time return, riders Takumi Itoh and Kevin Schwantz had some good results aboard the new Suzuki RGV500. Suzuki made a full return to racing in 1988 with Schwantz finishing 8th overall with two wins whilst teammate Rob McElnea finished the season in 10th place.[6] With a total of six wins, Schwantz was ranked fourth for the 1989 season.[6]

In 1990 Schwantz was second overall with five wins while teammate Niall Mackenzie was 4th.[7] Another five wins ranked Schwantz third overall in 1991. Doug Chandler became Schwantz's teammate for 1992 during which Schwantz enjoyed one win to finish the season fourth followed by Chandler's fifth place overall.

Schwantz won his long-awaited first World Championship in 1993 with four race wins. His new teammate Alex Barros also scored a win and finished 6th overall.[7]

In 1994, Schwantz was 4th overall with two wins whilst Barros was 8th.[7] Early in the 1995 season, Schwantz decided to retire from motorcycle competition. The other Suzuki rider Daryl Beattie finished the season second with two race wins.[7]

Scott Russell joined Beattie in 1996. Russell finished the season 6th while Beattie suffered serious injuries pre-season and did not have his previous form. He finished 18th.[7] Beattie was joined by Anthony Gobert in 1997. Beattie finished the season 11th and Gobert 15th. A fifth-place finish by Beattie was the team's best result that season.

Suzuki entered an all Japanese riders lineup in 1998 with Nobuatsu Aoki and Katsuaki Fujiwara. Fujiwara however was injured during pre-season tests and Aoki contested the world championship alone. He finished 9th for the season with a best result of 4th place. New rider Kenny Roberts Jr. joined Aoki in 1999. Roberts Jr. took Suzuki's first win in the four years since 1995. His four wins gave him second place in the championship. Aoki was 13th.[7]

Roberts became World Champion in 2000 with a total of four victories,[8] Aoki was 10th overall.[7]

In 2001 Sete Gibernau joined Roberts riding the Suzuki RGV500. Gibernau finished ninth overall and Roberts 11th.[9]

In 2002, the debut year of the new MotoGP class, Roberts and Gibernau rode the new Suzuki GSV-R four-stroke motorcycle. The team's best result was a 3rd-place podium finish by Roberts at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Overall, Roberts finished 9th and Gibernau 16th.[9]

John Hopkins joined Roberts in 2003. Hopkins came seventh at the Spanish Grand Prix. However, Roberts missed three races due to a crash in the Italian Grand Prix and finished the season 19th two places behind Hopkins in 17th place.[9] The rider line-up remained the same for 2004 while Bridgestone replaced Michelin as the team's tyre supplier.[10] Hopkins finished the season 16th with Roberts Jr. again two places behind in 18th.[9]

Once again the rider line-up remained the same for 2005, while Englishman Paul Denning became the new team manager taking over the position of Gary Taylor.[11] Roberts took a second place podium-finish in the wet British Grand Prix but finished the season 13th. Hopkins finished 14th for the season.

Chris Vermeulen joined Hopkins in 2006.[12] Hopkins finished the season 10th while Vermeulen finished 11th with a 2nd place podium-finish at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.

Both riders stayed with the team in 2007 and raced the new 800cc Suzuki GSV-R. Vermeulen took Suzuki's first win since the advent of four-stroke regulations and finished the season 6th overall. Hopkins finished 4th with four podium finishes.

For 2008, Chris Vermeulen was joined by Loris Capirossi as the rider lineup and the same lineup remained in 2009.

For the 2010 season Álvaro Bautista joined the team.

For the 2011 season, the team fielded only one GSV-R for Bautista with no replacement for Loris Capirossi, who moved to the Pramac Racing team. At the end of 2011, Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP citing the need to reduce costs amid the global economic downturn.[13]

In June 2013, Suzuki announced that they would return to MotoGP with a factory team in 2015.[14] On 30 September 2014, Suzuki confirmed that it would participate in MotoGP from 2015, with Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales as their two riders. They raced a newly developed MotoGP machine, the GSX-RR, with a restructured team organisation led by Davide Brivio.[15]

In 2020, Suzuki secured the team's title for the first time, while rider Joan Mir secured the rider's title, becoming the first Suzuki rider to do so since Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000.

On 12 May 2022, Suzuki announced they were "...in discussions with Dorna regarding the possibility of ending its participation in MotoGP at the end of 2022".[16] Suzuki were reported to have contractual obligations to participate until 2026.[17] Suzuki won two of their final three races in Australia and Valencia.[18][1]

(key)

Year	Team	Motorcycle	Tyres	No.	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Points	RC	Points	TC	Points	MC
2002	Telefónica Movistar Suzuki	Suzuki GSV-R	D M			JPN	SAF	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL
				15	Sete Gibernau	Ret	16	9	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	4	Ret	8	Ret	14	12	13			51	16th	150	4th	143	3rd
				10	Kenny Roberts Jr.	Ret	Ret	8	5	Ret	7	6	14		11	4	3	6	8	9	Ret			99	9th
				51	Yukio Kagayama									Ret										0	NC
	Team Suzuki Test			33	Akira Ryō	2					11	15	13	11	14				11					41	18th	—
2003	Suzuki Grand Prix Team	Suzuki GSV-R	M			JPN	SAF	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL
				21	John Hopkins	13	13	7	Ret	Ret	15	15	11	Ret	17	18	DNS	Ret		12	13			29	17th	55	10th	43	5th
				10	Kenny Roberts Jr.	14	15	13	16	Ret				15	20	17	17	15	14	9	11			22	19th
				71	Yukio Kagayama							Ret	12											4	25th
				43	Akira Ryō														20					0 (6)	24th
	Team Suzuki Test			43	Akira Ryō													10						6	24th	—
2004	Team Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			SAF	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	RIO	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL
				21	John Hopkins	13	15	Ret		Ret	14	15	9	8	Ret	6	Ret	8	Ret	15	12			45	16th	89	9th	73	5th
				10	Kenny Roberts Jr.	Ret	8	12	Ret	17	16	7	8	17	10	14	Ret							37	18th
				32	Gregorio Lavilla															16	17			0	NC
				71	Yukio Kagayama													11	14					7	23rd
	Team Suzuki Test			32	Gregorio Lavilla					Ret					Ret									0	NC	—
2005	Team Suzuki MotoGP Red Bull Suzuki (Rd. 8)	Suzuki GSV-R	B			SPA	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GBR	GER	CZE	JPN	MAL	QAT	AUS	TUR	VAL
				21	John Hopkins	14	Ret	7	16	11	Ret	14	8	11	Ret	14	5	9	17	10	15	13		63	14th	126	8th	100	5th
				10	Kenny Roberts Jr.	Ret	12	Ret	13	15	15	16	14	2	11	11	8	7	11					63	13th
				9	Nobuatsu Aoki											16						Ret		0	NC
2006	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	USA	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL
				21	John Hopkins	9	Ret	17	4	15	10	4	6	8	10	6	7	6	12	12	6	11		116	10th	214	5th	151	4th
				71	Chris Vermeulen	12	Ret	7	Ret	10	14	6	10	16	7	5	12	11	2	11	9	Ret		98	11th
	Team Suzuki Test			64	Kousuke Akiyoshi																13			3	21st	—
2007	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			QAT	SPA	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	USA	CZE	SMR	POR	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				21	John Hopkins	4	19	6	3	7	5	4	5	5	7	15	2	3	6	10	7	8	3	189	4th	368	3rd	241	4th
				71	Chris Vermeulen	7	9	11	7	1	8	7	3	16	11	2	5	2	13	11	8	7	6	179	6th
	Team Suzuki Test			64	Kousuke Akiyoshi		17													Ret				0	NC	—
				9	Nobuatsu Aoki																	13		3	25th
2008	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			QAT	SPA	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	USA	CZE	SMR	IND	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				7	Chris Vermeulen	17	10	8	Ret	5	10	7	8	7	3	3	6	5	9	Ret	15	9	13	128	8th	248	5th	181	4th
				65	Loris Capirossi	8	5	9	9	7	7	Ret		WD	7	15	3	7	16	6	10	7	9	118	10th
				11	Ben Spies								14											2 (20)	19th
	Team Suzuki Test			11	Ben Spies											8			6					18 (20)	19th	—
				64	Kousuke Akiyoshi															Ret				0	NC
				9	Nobuatsu Aoki																	17		0	NC
2009	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			QAT	JPN	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GER	GBR	CZE	IND	SMR	POR	AUS	MAL	VAL
				7	Chris Vermeulen	7	10	10	6	10	11	5	8	13	13	11	11	9	10	11	6	15		106	12th	216	6th	133	4th
				65	Loris Capirossi	Ret	7	6	8	5	5	9	Ret	11	11	5	7	5	Ret	12	9	14		110	9th
2010	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			QAT	SPA	FRA	ITA	GBR	NED	CAT	GER	USA	CZE	IND	SMR	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	POR	VAL
				19	Álvaro Bautista	Ret	10	DNS	14	12	14	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	8	8	7	5	12	11	9	85	13th	129	6th	108	6th
				65	Loris Capirossi	9	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	13	7	11	10	Ret	11	Ret		Ret	Ret	DNS	13	Ret	44	16th
2011	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSV-R	B			QAT	SPA	POR	FRA	CAT	GBR	NED	ITA	GER	USA	CZE	IND	SMR	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				19	Álvaro Bautista	DNS		13	12	12	5	11	13	7	Ret	Ret	6	8	6	Ret	Ret	C	Ret	67	13th	73	8th	73	4th
				21	John Hopkins		10									DNS						C		6	21st

Year	Team	Motorcycle	Tyres	No.	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Points	RC	Points	TC	Points	MC
2014	Team Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki GSX-RR	B			QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	SMR	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				14	Randy de Puniet																		Ret			0	NC	0	NC	0	NC
2015	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	B			QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	ESP	NED	GER	USA	CZE	GBR	SMR	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				25	Maverick Viñales	14	9	10	11	9	7	6	10	11	11	Ret	11	14	11	Ret	6	8	11			97	12th	202	5th	137	4th
				41	Aleix Espargaró	11	8	7	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	10	14	9	9	10	6	11	9	7	8			105	11th
2016	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				25	Maverick Viñales	6	Ret	4	6	3	6	4	9	12	6	9	1	5	4	3	3	6	5			202	4th	295	4th	208	4th
				41	Aleix Espargaró	11	11	5	5	6	9	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	7	4	Ret	13	8			93	11th
2017	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				29	Andrea Iannone	Ret	16	7	Ret	10	10	16	9	Ret	19	11	Ret	Ret	12	4	6	17	6			70	13th	130	6th	100	4th
				42	Álex Rins	9	Ret	DNS					17	21	11	16	9	8	17	5	8	DSQ	4			59	16th
				12	Takuya Tsuda				17																	0	NC
				50	Sylvain Guintoli					15	17	17														1	27th
2018	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				29	Andrea Iannone	9	8	3	3	Ret	4	10	11	12	10	13	C	8	3	11	Ret	2	Ret	Ret		133	10th	302	4th	233	4th
				42	Álex Rins	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	10	5	Ret	2	Ret	11	8	C	4	4	6	3	5	2	2		169	5th
				50	Sylvain Guintoli							Ret			19						21					0	NC	—
2019	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL
				36	Joan Mir	8	Ret	17	Ret	16	12	6	8	7	Ret			8	14	7	8	5	10	7		92	12th	301 (304)	5th	234	4th
				42	Álex Rins	4	5	1	2	10	4	4	Ret	Ret	4	6	1	Ret	9	5	7	9	5	5		205	4th
				50	Sylvain Guintoli							13			20		12				20					7	25th
2020	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			SPA	ANC	CZE	AUT	STY	RSM	EMI	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	POR
				36	Joan Mir	Ret	5	Ret	2	4	3	2	2	11	3	3	1	7	Ret							171	1st	310	1st	202	3rd
				42	Álex Rins	DNS	10	4	Ret	6	5	12	3	NC	1	2	2	4	15							139	3rd
2021	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	DOH	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	GER	NED	STY	AUT	GBR	ARA	RSM	AME	EMI	ALR	VAL
				36	Joan Mir	4	7	3	5	Ret	3	4	9	3	2	4	9	3	6	8	Ret	2	5			208	3rd	307	3rd	240	3rd
				42	Álex Rins	6	4	Ret	20	Ret	Ret		11	11	7	14	2	11	Ret	4	6	8	Ret			99	13th
2022	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki GSX-RR	M			QAT	INA	ARG	AME	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	RSM	ARA	JPN	THA	AUS	MAL	VAL
				9	Danilo Petrucci																	20				0	30th	260	6th	199	5th
				36	Joan Mir	6	6	4	4	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	8	Ret	Ret		DNS			18	19	6	87	15th
				42	Álex Rins	7	5	3	2	4	19	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	10	7	8	7	9	Ret	12	1	5	1	173	7th
				85	Takuya Tsuda																Ret					0	NC
				92	Kazuki Watanabe														21							0	31st