Suzuki: Target is to lose concessions ASAP

As reported, the Suzuki MotoGP team is just one podium away from losing technical concessions and re-joining Honda, Ducati and Yamaha in competing under the 'full' regulations.

That means limited private testing, 7 instead of 9 engine changes per rider, no exemption from the engine development freeze and a reduction in wild-card entries from 6 to 3 events.

Losing concessions didn’t work out well for Suzuki in 2017, when they were unable to correct a mistake in their choice of engine character, but team manager Davide Brivio said:
 
"Our target is to lose concessions as soon as possible. We need one more podium to lose them, and that will mean that we’ve continued doing the right things and being on the podium regularly, and this will be good news for Suzuki.

“In the meantime in Japan they are working pretty hard in the development of the GSX-RR bike. 

"In Assen we already introduced a new evolution engine that works well. And in Mugello we tried a carbon reinforced chassis… Let’s see in the next tests in Brno or Aragon if we are able to try some more new parts to make our package even stronger."

Suzuki arrived at the summer break with four podiums from the eight races, split equally between Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone.

The team's best result is a second place for the Spanish rider at Assen. However Iannone, dropped in favour of rookie Joan Mir for 2019, is ranked higher in the championship, in ninth (75 points) compared with eleventh for Rins (53 points). Both riders saw their recent Sachsenring chances end after contact from Pol Espargaro on the opening lap.

“Achieving four podiums in eight races this season is something truly great for us," Brivio added in his Suzuki blog. "I took it as a sign that this season is completely different to the last one. 

"I think we’ve really improved the package all round, the riders’ performance has also improved a lot, and therefore so have the results, so we are very satisfied so far. 

“We started working on this task not just this winter, but actually it was something we started during the last races of last year when we found the way to be more consistent in terms of performance and being in the top six in the latest races. 

"Then, during last winter, we really did a good job, especially with Alex, who was growing up and improving his performance, so that was very important in terms of developing. He had the opportunity of selecting different options during the winter and this made him more mature and stronger. 

"At the same time Andrea also improved his feeling with the bike and his performance, and now we have two competitive riders challenging each other and pushing each other. 

“This first part of the season has been very positive and encouraging, and now we have to work even harder in order to finish the season in the best possible way."

Maverick Vinales took the GSX-RR's only MotoGP win at Silverstone in 2016, one of four podiums that exceeded the limit of 6 Concession Points (3 points for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd) and saw the perks removed for 2017.

Should Suzuki lose concessions once again, it will leave only Aprilia and KTM eligible for the technical benefits next season. 

But if a manufacturer suffers a complete season without a podium, as for Suzuki in 2017, the concessions are returned.