Chassis, engine gains during 'intense' Suzuki test

The Suzuki MotoGP team completed it's 2017 track activities with three days at Jerez in Spain.

After experiencing corner-entry issues with last year's choice of engine, the team has been careful to try multiple chassis and engine options at several circuits before a decision is made on the configuration of the 2018 GSX-RR, due at Sepang in February.

Andrea Iannone was fastest of all on Wednesday, then fourth on Thursday and second quickest - but top MotoGP rider, behind WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea - among the reduced Friday line-up.

“This test was very intense because we wanted to try so many things, and overall I feel tired, but satisfied," the Italian said. "First of all, we focused on the feeling, the new chassis, and different setups.

"Overall I can feel the many improvements. I was effective on the single lap time attack, but also very fast in the pace. One of the areas we wanted to improve was the consistency of performance from new to worn tyres, which means being able to keep competitive for the ideal time of a race.

"Then we had the engine with new specs, and we were able to do many laps in order to make a proper comparison. The feeling has improved. I was not expecting such a big step forward and I’m positively impressed.

"Anyway, we have to keep our feet on the ground and continue working. It’s good to have taken these steps, but we still have areas where we can improve, and that will be the task for the winter.”

Team-mate Alex Rins, preparing for his second MotoGP season, was visibly more confident on the GSX-RR.

"We tested some parts again that we had previously tried in Valencia, and also Aragon, because we needed to confirm the data. The items proved to be effective and my feeling with the bike overall has improved," said Rins, who set a best lap time less than 0.3s from Iannone.

"I feel I can be more confident in riding, which translates to an improvement in the lap time. I was impressed by the pace with the evolution chassis. We are not changing the nature of the bike; we are working on consistency, but improving the areas we feel are weak.”

Test rider Sylvain Guintoli joined the race riders on track this week.

“It was nice to share the comments with Andrea and Alex, and see how the GSX-RR has improved and could further be improved. The feeling at the end was great," said the Frenchman.

“We brought here many items, but they were not completely new," stated Suzuki technical manager Ken Kawauchi. "They were all pieces that we had already tried in the past, one by one. Here in Jerez we needed to confirm their efficacy and check the different combinations between individual pieces.

"It was crucial for us to determine the direction we have to take during the winter, so that we might define the best combination to compose the 2018 machine that we will bring to Sepang."

Team manager Davide Brivio said the latest engine, "has a little more power, but also still proved to be as smooth as is per the Suzuki philosophy. This actually made the riders pretty happy. It’s not a huge step, but it is rideable, yet more powerful.

"Also, we double checked the improved chassis we tried out last week."

Having failed to claim a podium this season Suzuki will regain technical concessions in 2017, which will allow the team to make engine modifications during the season, although Kawauchi feels the lack of time between races means such perks will be less significant.

"It will be important to start on the right foot: next year we will have the concessions that will allow us to do more testing than others, but the calendar is very busy with one more race in Thailand.

"So honestly, I’m not sure we will be able to make much use of the concessions, finding more dates for testing in this tight schedule.”

With the winter test ban starting on December 1, Suzuki will next be on track alongside their rivals for the official test at Sepang in January.