Breaking news: Suzuki officially ends MotoGP participation after 2022

After dropping the bombshell news earlier this season that they intended to leave MotoGP after 2022, it has now been confirmed by Suzuki and Dorna. 

Suzuki will also be terminating their participation in the World Endurance Championship which has been of huge success for the Japanese brand in recent seasons. 

A statement from Suzuki said: "Suzuki Motor Corporation and Dorna have come to an agreement to terminate Suzuki’s participation in MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season. Suzuki will also terminate its factory participation in the World Endurance Championship (EWC) at the end of the 2022 season.

"We will continue to race in the 2022 MotoGP and EWC championships, maintaining our maximum efforts to win the remaining races. We aim to continue our support for our customers’ racing activities through our global distributor network.

"We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all Suzuki fans who have given us their enthusiastic support and to all those who have supported Suzuki's motorcycle racing activities for many years."

Citing their decision to leave MotoGP as a financial one, Suzuki, who were world champions as recently as 2020 with Joan Mir, are leaving MotoGP for the second time in just over a decade. 

Luckily for both its riders, Suzuki’s decision to leave MotoGP does not seem to have affected Mir and Alex Rins’ hopes of remaining on the grid in 2023 - both riders are set to join Honda. 

Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President added: "Suzuki has decided to end the participation of MotoGP and EWC in the face of the need to re-allocate resources on other initiatives for sustainability. Motorcycle racing has always been a challenging place for technological innovation, including sustainability, and human resource development. 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.

"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all our fans, riders and all stakeholders who joined us and enthusiastically supported us from the development stage since we returned to MotoGP racing.

"I will continue to do my best to support Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR and YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL to compete competitively until the end of the season.

"Thank you for your kind support."