Suzuki has finally confirmed it will exit the MotoGP World Championship at the conclusion of the 2022 season, while also revealing it will end its participation in the Endurance World Championship too.
The Japanese firm cites a need to re-allocate resources towards developing a business model that prioritises a more ‘sustainable society’ as its reasoning.
News of Suzuki’s plan to leave the premier class - less than two years after clinching its first MotoGP World Championship title with Joan Mir for two decades - emerged in the wake of May’s Spanish MotoGP when team members were informed of the shock call during a post-weekend test.
Since then Suzuki has remained fairly tight-lipped about the revelation, only issuing a statement declaring its ‘intention’ to leave a week later.
However, today’s announcement is the first formal clarification of its MotoGP exit, indicating it has reached an agreement with Dorna to pay a fine for reneging on a deal with the commercial rights holder to remain in MotoGP until 2026.
Suzuki’s exit from MotoGP also spells the end of its factory involvement in all world championship motorcycle racing competition, with the manufacturer withdrawing its support for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, EWC champions in 2020 and 2021.
As part of the announcement, Representative Director and President Toshihiro Suzuki intimates a racing programme is at odds with Suzuki’s future re-positioning in the marketplace to prioritise more sustainable transportation and technologies.
“Suzuki has decided to end the participation of MotoGP and EWC in the face of the need to re-allocate resources on other initiatives for sustainability. Motorcycle racing has always been a challenging place for technological innovation, including sustainability, and human resource development.
“This decision means that we will take on the challenge to build the new motorcycle business operation by redirecting the technological capabilities and human resources we have cultivated through the motorcycle racing activities to investigate other routes for a sustainable society.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all our fans, riders and all stakeholders who joined us and enthusiastically supported us from the development stage since we returned to MotoGP racing.
“I will continue to do my best to support Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR and YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL to compete competitively until the end of the season.”
