After making his 124th Grand Prix start at Motegi, our 2014 World Superbike Champion continued to contribute to the development of the Suzuki during testing in Japan and most recently at Jerez.
With Suzuki no longer having access to dealerships next year due to its good results in 2018 (9 podiums), the GSX-RR will only be entitled to one engine specification for next year. Is the one you determined recently in Motegi, Valencia and Jerez promising?
“In fact, we didn't work on just one specification, but on several. We started before mid-season and development continues. Timing is important because the engines will be sealed in the first race. But obviously we have to decide before that because we have to produce the engines.
“It’s under development and we’re looking to make the best choice for next year. From the first Grand Prix of the year all engines will be sealed and it will be impossible to modify them until the end of the season. »
Is the engine you will use next year already chosen?
“There are variations which are interesting, so the final model has not been chosen because we are not yet in the red in terms of deadlines. For the moment, we still have to analyze the results of the test we carried out in Jerez, which will be important. We have specs (editor’s note: characteristics) which have more power, which is interesting, and the choice will soon be made. »
After being a magnificent Moto3 World Champion in 2017, Joan mir did quite well for his inaugural season in Moto2 this year with 4 podiums. For his MotoGP debut, he was 0.9 off the best time at Valencia and also to Jerez. Do you think he's a good future driver in the premier category?
"I think he's already good (laugh) ! He is very good and adapted very quickly. It's a good sign. We saw it straight away. I spoke with him several times: he is super relaxed, he has fun on the bike. He immediately felt comfortable on the bike.
“Of course, when you've never tried a MotoGP machine, the first impression is that there's a lot of power and that's always a shock. Even for riders who have ridden a lot in other categories, it's always a shock when you get on a MotoGP for the first time.
“Overall, he felt comfortable straight away and he immediately showed a lot of speed, as well as a mature approach. It was a really positive start. »
When you arrived at Suzuki as a test rider, they were far away in the standings (Honda, Yamaha and Ducati finished the Manufacturers' Championship in 2017 with more than 300 points each, Suzuki was 4th with 100 points ahead of KTM with 69 and Aprilia with 64) . During the recent Jerez tests, Valentino Rossi said that “ we have a lot of work to do if we want to be competitive, especially against Ducati and Honda, but also against Suzuki ". Are you satisfied with it and what is your part in contributing to this progress?
“It’s a team effort, of course. This is obviously a great compliment coming from a prestigious champion like Valentino. I think it's clear that it wasn't just Valentino who saw it. This year, during the last 7 races, Alex Rins never came out of the top 6*. We saw at the end of the season that the work of last year and this year had paid off. It's nice, of course.
“When I got on the bike at the beginning, back then – that's March or April last year – there was already the idea of starting a test team. But actually when I got on the bike, they told me that the feedback I gave them helped them a lot in finding countermeasures for the problems that were related to the engine configuration.
“Working on these countermeasures allowed us to improve the bike. So this year, when we ended up with an engine configuration that was much better, all the work we did last year allowed us to take another step in progression this year. »
*6th in Thailand, 5th in Australia, 4th in Misano and Aragon, 3rd in Japan, and finally 2nd in Malaysia and Valencia.
The rest of this interview with Sylvain will be published tomorrow (Wednesday)
Video below: Suzuki's Valencia test teaser
Photos © Suzuki
