Livio Suppo spoke with Motosan.es to catch up on the latest MotoGP news: Martin and Bagnaia, Marc Márquez and Ducati, Honda, the situation at KTM, Casey Stoner…
About Mario Bordonaba / Motosan.es
Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant is an iconic figure in the world of motorcycling, known for his influence and leadership within teams such as Ducati and Honda. Throughout his career, he has played a key role in the conquest of several world championships, alongside riders and legends such as Marc Marquez et Casey Stoner. Currently, the Italian holds the position of consultant for the Italtrans Moto2 team, which allows him to remain an influential figure in the world of motorcycling, although he continues to be closely involved in the action of the premier class. In his exclusive interview with Motosan.es, he reviewed all the latest MotoGP news and touched on topics such as the fight between Jorge Martín et Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Casey Stoner, the Honda project and the Japanese, as well as Aprilia and the delicate situation of KTM.
In 2013, Honda had the idea of putting Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez in the same team. If that had happened, do you think Stoner would have been able to beat Marquez of that year?
“It’s impossible to say, to be honest. If you look at this season, Marc has been incredible for a rookie. But there was also luck: the championship was possible, in part, because Jorge and Dani, who were the strongest at the time, got injured. Without Jorge and Dani’s injuries, one of them would probably have won the championship because they were more experienced than Marc. With Casey, it’s hard to know. If Casey had been fully fit (not like in 2012, when he had problems), at that time he had much more experience than Marc, so it would have been difficult for Marc to beat him. But you never know, because on paper, Jorge and Dani were also stronger, and yet Marquez won.”
Do you think the negative feedback about performance is getting through to Honda management in Japan? Yamaha seems less and less Japanese, which seems to be an advantage…
“To be honest, I don’t think Yamaha has made a big step forward this season. They have Fabio Quartararo, who is a very strong rider and sometimes makes the difference. If we talk exclusively about the bike, it doesn’t seem to me that, despite the many tests and the involvement of Bartolini, the bike has made significant progress. Now at Honda there is Albesiano, although it is not yet clear what his position will be. It’s like when Ken Kawauchi joined Honda, we thought Ken could be a great asset for Honda, but in the end nothing has changed. Ken Kawauchi was the right man in the right position at Suzuki, but apparently he didn’t have the same impact at Honda. Although I have a lot of respect for him, nothing has changed. It will be interesting to see what Albesiano’s real role will be at Honda.” In the case of Aprilia, with Sterlacchini, it is easier to understand that he will be the real leader, but with the Japanese brands it is more difficult to know what Albesiano's influence will be."
With the current situation of KTM, which freezes the evolution of the bikes, it is rumored that Ducati and Dorna want Pedro Acosta to sign with them to give him a competitive bike. If you were Ducati, would you try to sign Pedro if you saw that KTM was not working in the first races?
“I’ve heard some of these rumours, but it seems to be more of a political issue. To do something like this you need a team, a bike, a structure, people, everything, you know? What I mean is that it’s one thing to have the idea, it’s another to make it happen. So what would you do? Would you put Acosta in a Ducati team? Who would pay? I don’t know. With that, Red Bull could say:
'You know what? Let's do like Formula 1, create a Red Bull team and use Ducati bikes'. But again, you couldn't have the latest Ducati evolution because, at this moment, it would be impossible for Ducati to produce one or two more bikes, I think. I really hope that KTM will move forward, but it is clear that their financial situation is very difficult. When you have to sell bikes, you have to promote them, you can't just close everything and wait for the bikes to sell in the stores without any positive signal. If KTM continues to be competitive, even for consumers, it means that KTM still exists. If they close everything, it will be even more difficult to continue."
"I don't think Yamaha has made a big step forward this season; at Honda they have Albesiano, but with the Japanese brands it's more complicated to know what influence he will have."
Our contributor Manuel Pecino suggested that Albesiano could use his experience at Aprilia to build a Honda with a different DNA and create a completely new base, because the current situation does not seem to be working. Do you think it is possible to radically change the DNA of a bike? Do you think they would allow such a drastic change at Honda?
“I don’t know, honestly. When I worked at Honda, I remember my boss, Nakamoto-san, always said: Honda is the engine. I mean, the engine was the most important part of Honda, and usually Honda engines, together with Ducati’s, were the most powerful. From what I understand, in recent years Honda has lost the advantage it had. With Honda’s bigger budget, compared to Aprilia’s, they could do it, because they have all the knowledge to make a fast bike, as they proved at Aprilia. But it’s one thing to say it’s possible, it’s another to do it. He has to work with a different culture, a different approach, and with other standards of quality and reliability, which are very important. In my opinion, it’s impossible to know today whether Albesiano will be able to make a big step forward with Honda or not.”
Will you ever return to a MotoGP team or has that step already been taken?
“You know, honestly, when I finished with Honda, I thought it was the last time. But after four seasons, Suzuki called me and I couldn’t say no, because, like it or not, this has been my life. Even though I’m busy with my bike business and other things, I still have a great passion for motorcycles. Right now, I don’t see who could call me, but you never say never.”
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Mario Bordonaba
Livio Suppo MotoGP
Livio Suppo MotoGP
Livio Suppo MotoGP
Livio Suppo MotoGP
