As new team manager, Livio Suppo must first get to know the Suzuki team – Financially, he does not believe the Japanese brand is at a disadvantage
At the end of 2017, Livio Suppo left the MotoGP paddock. Now the Italian is back and has taken over the role of team manager at Suzuki. What has been his outside assessment of this team so far? “Difficult to say. When I was introduced to everyone, I meant that Suzuki seems like the best compromise between Ducati and Honda to me. “
“It’s a Japanese team, but with a lot of Italian customs. My first feeling is that Suzuki is a compromise between a Japanese and an Italian company,” Suppo finds. He has already held senior positions with the Ducati and Honda factory teams.
Financially, however, there is a difference. Ducati currently fields the most bikes in the field with eight. Suppo was with the Italian team until the end of 2009. When tobacco advertising was not yet banned, Ducati was sponsored by Philip Morris (Marlboro)
Honda, as the biggest motorbike manufacturer in the world, has enough resources at its disposal anyway and a potent sponsor in Repsol. At Suzuki there is no big main sponsor, but several small ones. Suzuki mainly bears the costs for the MotoGP project itself.
Suppo does not believe that the financial framework is a problem in perspective: “In the last 20 years, Dorna together with the MSMA have changed the rules step by step to reduce costs. “
“Since 2012 there is the same displacement. That also helps to reduce costs. You can’t spend a lot of money on electronics development because there is the common software,” Suppo lists parameters in the regulations.
“In Formula 1, probably the team with the most money has the biggest chance of success. In MotoGP it is not like that, thank God. The level of riders and bikes is very close. Aprilia obviously has the smallest budget and they are still competitive.”
Therefore Suppo is convinced: “I think from a technical point of view Suzuki’s resources are big enough to build a good bike. They have proved that in the past years.” A satellite team is not planned in the near future.
