Suzuki extends agreement with Dorna to compete in MotoGP™
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Dorna Sports is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed with Suzuki Motor Corporation to renew their involvement in the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship for the period ranging from the 2022 season to the 2026 season.
As a consequence of this, Suzuki Motor Corporation will deploy its Factory Team – actually known as Team Suzuki Ecstar – in the MotoGP™ World Championship’s MotoGP™ class.
Suzuki’s racing story began in 1960 with an entry into the Isle of Man’s legendary Tourist Trophy, and last year the brand from Hamamatsu in Japan celebrated their 100th Anniversary, alongside the milestone of 60 years in racing. The news that Suzuki’s factory journey will continue is extremely positive, especially following a highly successful period which culminated in brilliant results last year; Suzuki’s Spanish pairing of Joan Mir and Alex Rins took 1st and 3rd in the Championship standings, meaning the excellent achievement of winning both the MotoGP™ Riders’ and Teams’ titles.
Shinichi Sahara, Project Leader and Team Director: “As Suzuki Motor Corporation we are proud to continue to compete in the MotoGP World Championship, as we all share the challenging ambition of measuring ourselves against the top motorcycling competition in the world. We started this new journey in 2015 and in only six years we achieved the Riders’ World title, together with the Teams’ title, and we are still hungry for more success. For these reasons we have extended our agreement with Dorna, with the hope and the commitment to continue the development of the technical and racing sides of the company.”
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports: “We are very happy with the renewal of the agreement with Suzuki, a factory with which we have been racing for years in the World Championship and enjoy great cooperation. Their return to MotoGP in 2015 immediately proved a success, confirmed with the culmination of winning the riders’ World Championship in 2020 with Joan Mir. We proudly extend this partnership and hope to continue setting milestones with this iconic brand.”
