Onward and Upward With a completely new and much-improved 2006 version of the GSV-R MotoGP machine, and with backing from Rizla showing on its flanks, the Suzuki MotoGP team had every reason to look forward to the current 17-round season. After some promising tests and points scoring rides for both John Hopkins and new recruit Chris Vermeulen at the opening race of the year in Jerez, things looked well on track for better results soon thereafter. And then came the Qatar GP”¦. After the very rude surprise of the most difficult race weekend imaginable – and a double DNF – came the Turkish GP. Suzuki answered its critics in the best way possible with pole position and a strong performance in the race, and from that point onwards the season has moved forward at a stunning pace for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team. Ultimate race results have not quite kept pace with the recent qualifying prowess of both Hopkins and Vermeulen, not yet at least, but the potential is clear to see and marks a massive step forward from 2005. Since the Turkish weekend, points have been scored by each rider in almost every race, including two top fours for the more experienced Hopkins. In terms of sheer pace, Vermeulen’s wet pole in Turkey and Hopkins’ similar performance in the dry at Assen have shown that when all things mesh together as desired, Rizla Suzuki is now on a competitive pace with any team in the MotoGP paddock. Said Hopkins, who has started from the front row four times in the last seven races, “There is a real satisfaction in running up the front but basically the best thing about scoring pole was getting it out of the way at last”¦ I had been on the front row many times but never on pole so it was good to take the first one. It was a huge weight off my shoulders! We know that we have what we need with the team, the bikes and myself,” said John, who has been ready to step up to full pace since before the season even started. “Qatar was just a bad and now forgotten incident, because I knew that I could get a good result. The overall machine performance is tremendously better than last year and has improved race after race.” For MotoGP rookie Vermeulen the few reversals and many plus points in his rapid growth aboard the GSV-R only underlined how much the machine has been improved over the 2005 version. “It wasn’t like anything has changed hugely in the bike or in the team itself since the start of this season, and I really believe from the point of view of the team everything is in place to win championships,” said rookie Chris. “All the little things that have been added with each passing race do make a big difference.” The last word goes to the man who is the conduit between the team itself, Suzuki’s engineering efforts and the riders, Team Manager Paul Denning. “As Chris says, in between the early season races and now, nothing very fundamental has changed. The biggest change between last year and this year is the design and potential of the bike, plus the Suzuki factory working in a far more focused way on the priorities. They’ve done a great job in terms of the improvement since 2005 and the reaction speed to the problems we suffered earlier this year. It’s a combination of a lot of small things and a lot of small details. Getting the simple things right is what’s made the difference to the team’s potential the riders and team now have a bike they can believe in!” It has ever been this way in racing, where the biggest results usually come from meshing together all the small pieces of the jigsaw, not trying to start a mechanical revolution once the season has started. Despite the odd positive or negative anomaly, which almost unavoidably affects racing results, one look at the 2005 v 2006 mid-season statistics show that the final picture for Suzuki’s current high-speed jigsaw is approaching completion fast.
A Mid-season Report From The Suzuki MotoGP Team
A Mid-season Report From The Suzuki MotoGP Team
© 2006, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
![A Mid-season Report From The Suzuki MotoGP Team](/wp-content/themes/racing-map/images/No_image_available.png)