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The Suzuki MotoGP team has announced that former Ducati and Honda team boss Livip Suppo will take over as its new manager, confirming The Race’s story that the announcement of the Italian as championship-winning former boss Davide Brivio’s replacement was imminent.
Spending 11 years running Ducati’s MotoGP effort and helping it to its only riders’ title so far with Casey Stoner before moving with the Australian to Repsol Honda, he went on to even greater success there, winning a further five titles with Stoner and Marc Marquez.
The very first name suggested as Brivio’s replacement well over a year ago, it marks a smart signing for the 2020 world champions as they reach a crunch time in contract negotiations with Joan Mir and Alex Rins.
“I am very proud to become Suzuki Ecstar’s Team Manager,” said Suppo, “and happy to re-join the MotoGP Championship after four years. I’m also very honoured to be involved in this great project with Suzuki; for sure it will be a challenging task to be part of an historic manufacturer in MotoGP, who recently achieved the crown in 2020 in the year of their 100th anniversary.
“I also feel it will be a great experience to start working with two talented riders like Joan Mir and Alex Rins, both capable of fighting for the top in MotoGP. [Shinichi] Sahara-san’s proposal came at the perfect time for me, I had been busy setting up my e-bike company but I was certainly missing the paddock and ready to come back. Racing has been my life for almost all my career and I will do my best to bring my experience to Team Suzuki Ecstar. I know they are a great team, but also a great group of humans, so this could help a lot to achieve our goals sooner.
“MotoGP nowadays is more and more exciting, with many very fast riders and competitive motorcycles from all manufacturers. It’s a difficult challenge for everybody involved, where all the small details can make the difference, I am ready to be part of the game again and give my all to be on top with Suzuki.”
It also marks a return to a more traditional team structure for the squad, with project leader Shinichi Sahara now able to return to his primary focus – returning the 2022 GSX-RR to championship contender status after a difficult season last year.
“I’m very happy to announce the news of Livio Suppo as our new team manager before the new season starts,” said the Japanese engineer. “I’m confident that Livio is very well-suited for the position, because he has a lot of experience and a big passion for winning. He understands how teams work and that team atmospheres are important when it comes to being competitive consistently during a season.
“Some of our crew members already have experience of working with him, and I’ve known him for a long time because he’s been in the paddock for many years. We’ve already seen promising signs and improvements in our performance during winter testing, and I believe Livio joining us will bolster our team further and we will become even stronger.”
