MotoGP resumes action after Suzuki earthquake

Le Mans Thursday should have left one more preview of a grand prix, with the leading role of Fabio Quartararo, the local idol, current world champion and MotoGP leader; or the winner in Jerez, Pecco Bagnaia, returned after a difficult start to the season, who now wants to run again as the Frenchman’s main rival, the role that had been assigned to him for 2022. Or the Spanish side of the options for the title of Aleix Espargaró, second overall to seven points or, as almost always, whether Marc Márquez improved enough in the Jerez test to take that step that seems to be missing to fight, again, for the podium or even for victory . But no.

The bomb dropped that training Monday at the Andalusian circuit, the internal communication to the members of the official Suzuki team that the MotoGP project was going to stop at the end of the year, marked everything. For two reasons: because it was going to be the first time that any of the protagonists, or rather victims, was going to speak; and above all for the collateral damage, both by the workers of the Japanese squad, and by its two pilots, Joan Mir and Álex Rins, who will have to find a place for 2023. Two pieces that have to move and that can move other pieces, which has stirred up a puzzle with many interested parties.

«First they told us the pilots and then a meeting was held with the team, to which the pilots also went, and they told us this, which is a hit. It is one of these things that you do not suspect, not at all. Not even the team manager knew about this, because otherwise he would not be negotiating with the pilot. It is very strong, very strong. I do not want to enter into the management that could have been made of the news, “explained Mir, once it was not until this Thursday when Suzuki did not issue a brief official communication, in which, in addition to regretting having had to make the decision, the attributed to undefined economic problems.

Rins even added that he had not been able to avoid crying, at a difficult moment for a rider who made his MotoGP debut in 2017, where he has only competed for Suzuki, a motorcycle that was world champion two years ago. “It was a shock. We were in negotiations. Not that we said we hadn’t started talking, but that he was calm. Nerd. We were almost ready to sign, both on Suzuki’s side and mine. Nobody knew it », pointed out the Barcelonan, a winger that was also confirmed by his teammate.

“A model team”

“We are talking about a model team,” added Mir. «If you start this project in 2015 and you see that every year you are there, but that you have not just arrived… but that is not the case. We were champions two years ago and we are ready to fight for the World Cup every year. I think that an image of exemplary Suzuki has been given, bestial, of union, of results. Everyone knows how special this team is because of the people who work on this team. It is something strong, ”Mir insisted. And it is that, after six races, Suzuki leads the team classification, with Rins fourth overall tied with third and 20 points behind Quartararo, and Mir sixth tied with fifth, at 33. And now they will look for their opportunity to cut that disadvantage in France, at his rival’s home.

“No Frenchman has won here in MotoGP, so I don’t know to what extent this applies to it being an advantage of racing at home,” said the first in the World Championship with a smile, already in key weekend, on a track on the favorable role for the Yamaha, but in which the weather conditions often play a crucial role. In fact, the last two races held at Le Mans were marked by water. “In my current situation I don’t care too much if it’s dry or wet, but it’s true that in the wet the chances of winning or crashing increase,” acknowledged Marc Márquez, who has yet to get on the podium in 2022 and who was fourth in Jerez, and who still does not want to exaggerate his expectations. «Now I am focused on finding the best sensations, although in the wet if you have good sensations everything will be easier for you. But in the end, my job is none other than to try to be as far ahead as possible, regardless of the conditions of the track”, highlighted Márquez.