Suzuki unveils retro GSX-R, Schwantz livery

This is the special livery to be used by Suzuki Ecstar riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales during this weekend's German MotoGP and also the following Indianapolis round.

The colours are to celebrate the 30-year history of the GSX-R sport bike, including the AMA wins claimed by future world champion Kevin Schwantz who debuted the iconic blue and white.

"I first rode the GSXR in 1985 at the Suzuka 8-Hour with Graeme Crosby," Schwantz recalled. "We didn't get the Suzuki GSX-Rs in the United States until '86 but raced them in American Superbikes in '86 and '87. I won the Daytona 200 on a Suzuki GSX-R in 1988 and continued to race the 8-Hour all the way through to the 1992 season.

"The GSX-R was ground-breaking technology, the latest, greatest thing when it came out and it has continued to be an awesome sports bike, a great handling motorcycle and it is still very, very competitive in the Suzuka 8-Hour. With over a million GSX-Rs made it is true to say that there are millions and millions of people who have bought them, ridden them and love them."

Suzuki returned to MotoGP this season after a three-year sabbatical following the financial crisis. Highlights include a perfect one-two in qualifying at Catalunya, where Vinales went on to claim the bike's best race result to date of sixth.

Suzuki project leader Satoru Terada said: "When we started developing the MotoGP machine we clearly had in mind that it would be named the GSX-RR, therefore keeping a very strong connection with the GSX-R. This name at Suzuki means a lot, because it has a very strong heritage both in road machines and in racing machines.

"This direct connection between the race version and the road version is something Suzuki has always believed in and we as Team Suzuki Ecstar strongly wanted to respect this view.

"GSX-R and RR are real sisters, not only because of their design, but also because the technical innovations that we develop and test in racing have a direct application also on series production models. This is our way to stay in touch with our fans, may they be supporting our riders in a MotoGP Grand Prix, or riding their GSX-R machines on the roads of the world."