Suzuki Ecstar has pulled the wraps off the livery its GSX-RR will adorn in the 2022 MotoGP World Championship as it looks to claw back its title crown.
The manufacturer scored a surprise first premier class title in 20 years when Joan Mir swept to the 2020 MotoGP World Championship on the strength of metronomic consistency, the Spaniard winning just a single race en route to the riders’ and teams’ titles.
Though Suzuki proceeded to endure its first win-less season since 2018 in defence of its title, Mir was still able to land third in the overall standings with six podiums, adding to the seven he achieved in his title-winning year.
Alex Rins, meanwhile, comes into the 2022 MotoGP season as one of the riders believed to be under threat for his seat after two frustrating seasons riddled by mistakes and a failure to protect his #1 status in the team from Mir.
Indeed, though Rins was third overall in 2020, his season was defined by a crash and injury during the opening round in Jerez, which took several rounds to fully overcome. He then endured an error-strewn 2021 campaign, which included a run of five races outside the points - four due to crashes and the fifth he missed altogether due to a bizarre cycling injury caused when he struck a stationary van at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya while distracted by his phone.
Ending the year down in 13th overall, while his hopes of staying at Suzuki could be assisted by Mir - who has been linked to Honda - departing, should his Spanish counterpart re-sign it is expected Rins will exit unless he can hit the ground running this year.
Beyond the riders, Suzuki is also under pressure to heed its riders demands for a more aggressively-designed GSX-RR. While Suzuki has often been praised for its well-rounded GSX-RR, which notably kinder to its tyres in races, handles well and remains quick in a straight line, it has been criticised for reacting too slowly to developments.
This was indicated in 2021 when Suzuki went a long period as the only team without the ‘holeshot device’, which has the dual purpose of improving race starts and allows riders to push the bike down for more downforce when slingshotting out of corners.
Furthermore, Suzuki is seeking a solution to its inconsistent qualifying form, the result of the GSX-RR’s inability to generate heat into the tyres for a flying lap, particularly in cool conditions.
Indeed, Mir won the 2020 MotoGP world title from an average starting position of only ninth on the grid, while in 2021 it was only tenth.
For 2022, the Suzuki GSX-RR features the now familiar blue and silver look of recent years, but this year’s version is distinguished by black front cowl number plates and more prominent backing from Spanish beverage company Estrella Galicia 0,0.
