The departing Suzuki MotoGP team will test a new component in a two-day outing next week, in a move that “makes no sense” to rider Alex Rins.
Suzuki’s MotoGP programme will wrap up at the end of the season and there will be no GSX-RR bikes on the grid in 2023 – but this has not stopped the Hamamatsu marque from pushing on with plans for a late-season test outing.
Japanese tester Takuya Tsuda, who made his second MotoGP start as a wildcard at Motegi this year, will run at that same venue on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The fact the test is going ahead has triggered both discontent and bemusement within the Suzuki MotoGP team – and while race riders Rins and Joan Mir made it clear earlier in the season that they appreciated development plans continuing despite the impending withdrawal, neither appears totally convinced by the value of this particular outing.
Rins – who will join LCR Honda on a two-year deal starting in 2023 – was particularly firm.
“They will test before Malaysia. They will test a new fairing,” he said. “Completely different as [what] we are doing here, with different intake, different wings…
“If you ask me why, I don’t know. Makes no sense, for sure.
“But they have the money. So… let them spend the money.”
The factory Honda-bound Mir for his part indicated it also came as a surprise to him, and said with a smirk: “The only thing I can say about this is the team spirit is still there, so it’s good.”
