Photo: motogp.com
The deals are finally done and the news is official, as a recent statement from Suzuki Motor Corporation has announced the names of the two factory riders who will be at the helm of the new bikes. Suzuki’s MotoGP new era begins with Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, and Davide Brivio as team manager.
Aleix Espargaro has just stepped on the MotoGP podium for the first time in his career past Sunday, as he finished the Aragon round in the runner-up position. He currently rides an NGM Forward Racing machine, but his confirmation as a Suzuki factory rider is no surprise, as this move had been rumored for quite some time now. The name of Maverick Vinales appeared in the media only a short while ago, but it looks like this move has been arranged secretly beforehand. Vinales is also a former Moto3 World Champion in 2013.
As far as the bike is concerned, Davide Brivio saus that the prototype, which was in the end named GSX-RR, is a completely new bike, designed from scratch. Suzuki dropped the V engines in favor of the current in-line four power unit, as a smart move aimed at aligning the MotoGP technology with that of the road bikes in production, allowing Hamamatsu to share the technological developments with its “civil” motorcycles.
“Now we are working a lot on the electronics, because the electronics are very sophisticated in MotoGP and we have been out for a few years, so we need to recover. And also we are working on engine performance - not so much the top speed of the engine - but more the drivability of the engine and the power. We have to enter and see where we are, see how much work we have to do. We have to try to, I think, get close with Ducati, even though they have been struggling for many years. Then we can see the way to the top.”
Suzuki will pit their GSX-RR against the rest of the grid in the final round of the current championship at Valencia, as a wildcard entry, but the name of the rider aboard the bike was not specified. We remind you that both Suzuki’s test pilots, Randy De Puniet and Nobuatsu Aoki are injured.
Pramac completes rider line-up with Petrucci
Petrucci has just come back after a wrist surgery to fix his hand which got damaged at Jerez, but it looks like his pace was really competitive aboard the Octo IodaRacing bike last Sunday at Aragon, as he produced a great finish in the 11th position.
Aleix Espargaro is the first Open Class rider to step on the podium since the class was introduced, and is also the best Open rider in the current standing, with 112 points, in the 6th overall charts. Danilo Petrucci is 20th with 9 points, while Maverick Vinales is third in the Moto2 standing, behind Esteve Rabat and Mika Kallio.
As far as the bike is concerned, Davide Brivio saus that the prototype, which was in the end named GSX-RR, is a completely new bike, designed from scratch. Suzuki dropped the V engines in favor of the current in-line four power unit, as a smart move aimed at aligning the MotoGP technology with that of the road bikes in production, allowing Hamamatsu to share the technological developments with its “civil” motorcycles.
“Now we are working a lot on the electronics, because the electronics are very sophisticated in MotoGP and we have been out for a few years, so we need to recover. And also we are working on engine performance - not so much the top speed of the engine - but more the drivability of the engine and the power. We have to enter and see where we are, see how much work we have to do. We have to try to, I think, get close with Ducati, even though they have been struggling for many years. Then we can see the way to the top.”
Suzuki will pit their GSX-RR against the rest of the grid in the final round of the current championship at Valencia, as a wildcard entry, but the name of the rider aboard the bike was not specified. We remind you that both Suzuki’s test pilots, Randy De Puniet and Nobuatsu Aoki are injured.
Pramac completes rider line-up with Petrucci
Pramac Ducati has signed Danilo Petrucci for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. After Cal Crutchlow announced that he will in fact ride for Lucio Cecchinello’s LCR Honda satellite team, Ducati Corse brought Pramac’s top rider Andrea Iannone as the future team mate of Andrea Dovizioso in the factory team, leaving team boss Francesco Guidotti one rider short past the mid-season point.
Petrucci has just come back after a wrist surgery to fix his hand which got damaged at Jerez, but it looks like his pace was really competitive aboard the Octo IodaRacing bike last Sunday at Aragon, as he produced a great finish in the 11th position.
Aleix Espargaro is the first Open Class rider to step on the podium since the class was introduced, and is also the best Open rider in the current standing, with 112 points, in the 6th overall charts. Danilo Petrucci is 20th with 9 points, while Maverick Vinales is third in the Moto2 standing, behind Esteve Rabat and Mika Kallio.
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