PARIS —
Suzuki said on Wednesday they had come to an agreement with championship
promoters Dorna to leave MotoGP at the end of this season, four years before
the end of their contract.
اضافة اعلان
Their current
deal with the sport started in 2015 and was due to finish in 2026.
In May, the
Japanese manufacturer said they wanted to quit MotoGP for financial reasons,
which were also cited by the team on Wednesday.
"Motorcycle
racing has always been a challenging place for technological innovation,
including sustainability, and human resource development," Suzuki's
representative director and president, Toshihiro Suzuki, said in a team
statement.
"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," he added.
Suzuki left
MotoGP at the end of 2011, before returning in 2015.
Since they
returned seven years ago, they have won the riders' title in 2020 when Joan Mir
topped the standings with team-mate Alex Rins third.
In the 500cc
era, Barry Sheene, Marco Lucchinelli, Franco Uncini, Kevin Schwantz, and
Kenny Roberts Jr won world titles riding Suzukis.
This season,
Mir is seventh and fellow Spaniard Rins in eighth in the overall standings
after 11 of the campaign's 20 races.
According to
reports the pair are likely to sign contracts with Honda for next year.
In MotoGP's
current format, there are 24 bikes on the starting grid in each race, although
wildcard entries increased that to 25 on occasions this season.
Ducati have
eight bikes on the grid, while Suzuki and Aprilia are the only manufacturers
with just two bikes on the starting grid.
The 24-bike
format is fixed until 2026, when the current contract between the International
Motorcycling Federation, Dorna and the International Racing Team Association,
which represents the six manufacturers, ends.
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