Suzuki in the MXGP: the yellow peril in a downward spiral!
It cannot be denied: Suzuki has shown very nice things in motocross. They are undeniably one of the greatest brands in history with a large number of world titles and very impressive comebacks. Nowadays the brand from Hamamatsu is one of the lesser players in global motocross and that may even be called an understatement. After thirty world titles – yes, you read that correctly – Suzuki is nowhere to be seen. How did it come to this?
Marketing, a passion for the sport and a vision of the future are three different things. Large companies sometimes make decisions that make no sense to the average person, but everything happens for a reason. Big companies like Suzuki not only produce engines but many other things such as cars, outboard motors and wheelchairs. The motorcycle division is a small division of the Suzuki Motor Corporation and the sport bike/motocross division is in turn a smaller cog in the whole. You understand that making a seemingly small decision at a shareholder meeting can have a major impact on the sport.
Few people know this, but Suzuki was able to win its first world title as early as 1962. That was in the 50cc TT class. Naturally, their first title in the 250cc class of the Motocross World Championship had much more resonance. This title – won by Joël Robert in 1970 – was the start of a long successful period that lasted until 2007. Steve Ramon then won the world title in the MX1 class on the brand with the specific yellow color. Officially, the real last world title was won by Frenchman Pierre-Alexandre Renet, who won a world title in the defunct MX3 class in 2009. The brand had amassed a large following over all those years. They watched the demise with sorrow and did not understand how such a successful manufacturer ended up in the corner where the blows fell.
However, hopeful signals emerged again in 2015 when Stefan Everts took over the GRP Team from Sylvain Geboers in order to put Suzuki back on the map in the Motocross World Championship. On September 23, 2017, the brand threw a big bomb into the motocross world: The Japanese would withdraw from the Motocross World Championship. New team owner Stefan Everts was furious and did not know how to deal with this for months. Suzuki's explanation was an incoherent jumble of marketing talk. On one occasion they said that the motorsport budget would mainly go to MotoGP. The other time the explanation was that the largest market for motocross machines is in the US and that further investments would be made in motocross there. In any case: The brand went into all kinds of twists and turns with this abrupt decision. No one from the motocross world seemed to understand the turnaround of the sports department in Hamamatsu. History tells us that this was not the first time Suzuki made strange and, in retrospect, stupid decisions. An overview.
The seventies
Suzuki was the first brand from the land of the rising sun to become world champion in motocross, but it was Kawasaki that first started development. In the mid-60s, Japanese people walked around at international competitions with a large camera around their neck. This was mainly used to visualize the machines from Husqvarna and CZ. If an engine block was open, those guys couldn't be beaten away. They took a lot of photos, suggesting that Japanese dirt bikes would appear on the circuits within a few years. And so it happened. In Europe there was a lot of pity about the Japanese "mopeds", but that would soon change when they attracted top riders such as Olle Pettersson, Sylvain Geboers and Joël Robert to drive their machines.
In 1970 it was an immediate prize: the super-talented Joël Robert gave the Japanese their first world title. 28 more would follow! In 1971 they went to the 500cc World Championship with Roger De Coster and there too it was bingo. The brand was praised by its top riders for the rapid development of the technology. A phone call and a telex to Japan was enough to get things changed at breakneck speed. Suzuki remained superior until 1977. Then the Yamaha/Mikkola tandem came on strong and Suzuki was pushed to the back. The Finn's Yamaha was lightning fast and Suzuki found it difficult to keep up.
Things did not improve in 1978 and 1979, which meant that De Coster had to compete with lesser engines in the 500cc class. On top of that, Honda also came on strong. They came up with a fast Elsinore and had strong drivers under contract with Graham Noyce and André Malherbe. The malaise at Suzuki was so great at the end of 1979 that they left De Coster - who gave them no fewer than five world titles - in the dark about his contract extension. That contract was coming to an end and when our compatriot asked about a possible extension, the Japanese blew warm yet cold. They didn't talk about an extension, but they didn't talk about a termination either. Roger De Coster: “My relationship with Suzuki had never been as cold as it was then!”. He became very frustrated with the situation and flew to Japan at the invitation of Honda. But first he went to Hamamatsu to ask for an explanation about the racing plans for 1980. The managers of the sports department seemed embarrassed and could not give him an answer. Immediately afterwards, De Coster went to Tokyo and signed a three-year contract with Honda.
This decision did not do any harm to Honda. They were subsequently very successful in the 500cc World Championship and in Supercross. What would it have done for Suzuki if they had never let a talent like De Coster leave for the competition? With the consideration that the Belgian was not only a good motocross rider but was also good at developing engines. In addition, he was handy with milling and turning machines, which allowed him to quickly fabricate and test new systems. A dream for every manufacturer, but Suzuki simply let this pass by.
History repeats itself
Roger De Coster would stay with Honda for 13 years. But due to management changes at Honda, the right spirit disappeared. De Coster: “They saw the successes we achieved but not the people behind them”. The Honda story came to an end at the end of 1993 and the contract with Roger was not renewed. In 1995 he was contacted by Sylvain Geboers. He ran the GP team for Suzuki and asked De Coster to work for Suzuki USA. The Japanese offered him a three-year contract. It seemed like some kind of unspoken admission of guilt from the policy in Hamamatsu, but Roger De Coster was reunited with the brand.
The first years of this new era were hard for De Coster. Suzuki did not fully fulfill its promise, which meant that the right resources were not always available for the team. The brand's motocross machines had also built up a negative reputation in the US, making it difficult for De Coster to attract good riders. In addition, engineers in Japan continued to dawdle over the upside-down suspension system, causing Suzuki to fall hopelessly behind in suspension development. According to the test riders in Japan, the conventional suspension system was good enough, but De Coster responded that the jumps in Japan could not be compared to those in the Supercross. The result was that Jeremy McGrath lost the championship by just seven points.
With a probability bordering on certainty he could have won if the Suzuki had been equipped with a stiffer upside-down. As a result, McGrath left for Yamaha the following year. When the Suzuki bosses heard about this switch, they waved a fat check for 1 million dollars to McGrath did not look back and moved to the brand with the crossed tuning forks. So it wasn't about money but about the engine!
Ricky Carmichael runs the show
Anyway: Through the hard and diligent work of team US, the Suzukis slowly improved, putting them in the sights of some top riders. For example, Greg Albertyn won a 250cc title in 1999 and a year later Travis Pastrana won the 125cc title. Another pilot who recognized the potential of “the yellows” was Ricky Carmichael. He was smart and saw that the yellow machine was getting better and better. He was signed and that was the start of a very successful period for Suzuki. He always gave himself completely in every respect, which made things rapid in the development of the machines but also in terms of victories. In 2005 and 2006, Carmichael managed to win the Supercross title and was thus able to significantly polish the brand's reputation. Afterwards, Ryan Dungey was attracted by De Coster. Dungey took the Supercross title in 2010. However, the same thing happened in 2010 as in 1979. De Coster had good contact with the sponsors Makita and RockStar, but the bosses in Japan did not want to give the sponsors what had been agreed.
That's how Ken Roczen went from Europe to the USA to compete in Supercross with the promise of full factory support from Suzuki. When push came to shove, De Coster had to place the German in Bill Keefe's private team under pressure from Japan. Roger De Coster: “Bill Keefe did a great job but that wasn't what we promised Ken Roczen. He arrived as world champion with a factory contract from Suzuki from Europe and now had to ride in a private team. Moreover, there were other elements that proved that Suzuki and myself were not on the same page."
"My contract ended at the end of 2010 and I asked for a new three-year contract. They offered me a 1-year contract but I didn't take it up. In all those years never had a 1-year contract with Suzuki.” The malaise between Suzuki and De Coster came to the attention of the KTM people. Two days after Ryan Dungey won the title in 2010, he signed a contract with the Austrian manufacturer. The rest is history. Once again Suzuki missed the opportunity to have a potentially successful period.
Meanwhile in Europe
After Greg Albertyn's 250cc world title, Suzuki's “winning mood” was hard to find. Any world titles had to be won by the very professionally run team of Sylvain Geboers. It would last until 2001 and 2002, when the talented Mickaël Pichon won the title in the 250cc world championship each time. The Frenchman did this on board a two-stroke, but the four-stroke period had now come into full bloom. There was also a new division of classes. From now on it was referred to as MX1, MX2 and MX3.
Suzuki had to join the unstoppable four-stroke train but missed a few stops in the early years. It would take until 2007 before Suzuki could win another title. Steve Ramon was the author of this title in the MX1 class. The world title of the fast Belgian could not bring about a change, it was mainly Yamaha and KTM that were at the forefront of development. These two brands were also able to attract the fastest pilots in their quest for new successes. In 2009, Pierre-Alexandre recently won a not-so-meaningful world title in the MX3, a class that was closed down at the end of 2013.
In July 2015, “radio paddock” was running at full speed. Sylvain Geboers had been looking for a buyer for several years and the rumor that a Belgian was a candidate to complete the deal grew stronger every week. The first name to be mentioned was Hans Corvers of the KEMEA Yamaha Team, but when he dropped out it turned out that there was only one name hanging. It was the name of none other than ten-time world champion Stefan Everts who was sidetracked by KTM after the troubles between him and the young talent Jeffrey Herlings. Everts accepted the offer and went to the 2016 world championship. For the MXGP, Everts went for the experience of Kevin Strijbos and Ben Townley. Jeremy Seewer and Brian Hsu were entered in the MX2 class. Dutchman Bas Vaessen was recruited in the European EMX250 Championship.
Anyone who knows Stefan Everts knows that “The Legend” takes this job very seriously. Suzuki was “visible” again in the rider park of the MXGP races and the development of the engines was accelerated. In previous years Clement Desalle was very fast on the RM450Z, but under the influence of KTM the pace of technical development was very high. That was certainly a big challenge for Everts. In 2017, Arminas Jasikonis was recruited to participate in the World Championship in the MXGP class alongside Strijbos. In MX2 it was Bas Vaessen, Hunter Lawrence and Jeremy Seewer who would defend the yellow colors. Seewer was even put forward as a candidate world champion. The latter would achieve second place in the final standings at the end of September, but just before that the speakers of “radio paddock” blasted again as loudly as in 2015. Shortly after Suzuki Japan's announcement that they would withdraw from the MX2, the bitter announcement came that they would completely stop their activities in the Motocross World Championship.
A feeling of deception
The verdict for team owner Stefan Everts was heavy. He could still get materials from Japan, but no longer the financial support. He saw the agreement with Suzuki as a long-term contract and it was thrown on the paving stones with a heavy thump. Just like Roger De Coster, he was sidelined by an incomprehensible decision by management in Japan. All explanations were good to reinforce the decision. Suzuki would focus on its core business - producing street motorcycles. Or the results were not good enough. And the brand wants to put all its resources on MotoGP. Anyway: The move by the Japanese left Stefan Everts with a big hangover. The relationship with Sylvain Geboers also soured, he was accused of trading with insider information. In Het Belang van Limburg of February 28, 2018, Everts stated an interview with Jürgen Schrooten and said the following: “I am left wondering whether Sylvain, who had worked with the Japanese for 25 years, knew about this, and whether the feeling of deception I have about this is justified."
It was not the first time that matters between Everts and Geboers had a sour aftertaste. In 1993, Stefan struggled with his starts and complained to the team. Sylvain Geboers cannot provide a solution, which only increases frustration. That year Greg Albertyn came over from 125cc and always does well at the starting gate. Everts always has to come back from the back and gets deeper and deeper in the middle of the season. Moreover, his teammate Donny Schmit manages to win GPs, which completes the malaise. According to the team, it was not the engine. The problems surrounding the engine adjustment received no feedback and so the relationship died down. The conflict continues and despite Geboers making an offer for 1994, Stefan moves to the Kawasaki team.
Back to the future
Everts announces a sabbatical year in 2018 to focus on the career of his son Liam, who is preparing himself in the youth series for a step forward to the European Motocross Championship. And so Suzuki disappeared from view for the umpteenth time due to a decision by management in Japan that appears to be out of touch with top sport. Anyone who ever dealt with the Suzuki people in Japan confirms that they had very good contacts with the engineers, but that the contact with management was a lot more difficult. This often thwarted the will of people such as De Coster, Geboers, Everts and by extension the Japanese engineers to move quickly in the development of their engines. However, the speed of technical development was their trademark in the early years.
After the break, it became quiet around Suzuki. There were no yellow motorcycles to be seen in the World Cup in 2018 and 2019. It also goes without saying that sales of RMZ models are in a deep trough. Sales of competition machines are directly proportional to their performance at the highest level. This also means that there is little “yellow” to be found in the amateur associations. With a probability bordering on certainty, the contractual obligations towards Stefan Everts are such that Suzuki will not return to the World Cup for the time being. There is also a rumor mill swirling around this. The latest news mentions a return to the highest level in 2022. Others see a doomsday scenario in the break with Everts and speak of a complete cessation of all motocross activities. This last statement seems unrealistic to us for a brand that was so successful in this sport.
Only in December did the news come that Kevin Strijbos would go to the Motocross World Championship with his own team and this with a Suzuki RM-Z450. The KSRT MX team will participate in the MXGP races and the ADAC MX Masters in Germany. A number of people saw this as Suzuki's silent return to the highest level, but it was Strijbos himself who quickly pulled the emergency brake to nip all misunderstandings in the bud. Kevin has an agreement with Johannes Bikes from Weimar for the ADAC Masters competitions and not Suzuki Germany. And the races in the MXGP are made possible by its private sponsors. There is currently no reason to see the return of the brand as a factory team.
In any case, we wish the policy in Hamamatsu a great clarifying moment in the future. To help them with this, we list all Suzuki titles in motocross and give them a large case of sake at the next meeting of the shareholders.
All Suzuki world titles
- 1970 Joël Robert 250cc
- 1971 Joel Robert 250cc
- 1971 Roger De Coster 500cc
- 1972 Joel Robert 250cc
- 1972 Roger De Coster 500cc
- 1973 Roger De Coster 500cc
- 1975 Gaston Rahier 125cc
- 1975 Roger De Coster 500cc
- 1976 Gaston Rahier 125cc
- 1976 Roger De Coster 500cc
- 1977 Gaston Rahier 125cc
- 1978 Akira Watanabe 125cc
- 1979 Harry Everts 125cc
- 1980 Harry Everts 125cc
- 1980 Georges Jobé 250cc
- 1981 Harry Everts 125cc
- 1982 Eric Geboers 125cc
- 1982 Brad Lackey 500cc
- 1983 Eric Geboers 125cc
- 1983 Georges Jobé 250cc
- 1984 Michele Rinaldi 125cc
- 1990 Donny Schmit 125cc
- 1990 Alessandro Puzar 250cc
- 1991 Stefan Everts 125cc
- 1993 Pedro Tragter 125cc
- 1994 Greg Albertyn 125cc
- 2001 Mickaël Pichon 250cc
- 2002 Mickaël Pichon 250cc
- 2007 Steve Ramon MX1
- 2009 Pierre-Alexandre Renet MX3
Text: Danny Hermans
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