Suzuki's 100 per cent sustainable fuel superbike is ready to race

Suzuki has completed development on its CN Challenge GSX-R1000R, which will use 100 per cent sustainable fuel at next month’s Suzuka 8 Hours race, marking a significant development, not just for Suzuki, but racing as a whole.

The Suzuki CN Challenge Team unveiled a new concept in 2024, when it raced at the iconic eight-hour event with 40 per cent sustainable fuel. But this year’s bike will now race with TotalEnergies’ Excellium Racing 100 fuel.

It’s made from waste materials like grape pomace, used cooking oil, and various other bio-sourced products from the food industry.

The bike continues to stand out for its use of recycled materials in construction, too, which includes recycled carbon fibre as part of its bodywork. Some other key components that went into making this bike ready for the 2025 event include Sunstar Engineering non-heat treated steel brake discs, and Sunstar Engineering/Tokai Carbon low-dust pads.

Suzuki says its plan is to “achieve both environmental load reduction and performance at a higher level to accelerate the development of environmental performance technologies through actual riding under severe conditions in endurance races. By verifying valuable data obtained through race activities, Suzuki will promote technical feedback for future products.”

While competing at the highest level is clearly the aim of the team’s project, recording key data with its 100 per cent sustainable fuel is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the two-wheel industry, not just racing.

More and more brands are already adopting similar strategies to Suzuki’s, and in MotoGP that’s also the case, as 2027 will see all participating manufacturers use 100 per cent sustainable fuel thanks to a new set of regulations.

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