We cannot say that Suzuki is having a great year. The Japanese team is going through the season in an anecdotal manner, while awaiting its withdrawal from competition.
Everything was going well. In Qatar, many observers were shocked when a GSX-RR overtook a Ducati on the main straight. A sort of enthusiasm set in, given the potential of the machine. Joan mir et Alex Rins finished 6th and 7th respectively, which is not a very bad result by the usual standards under the spotlight of losail. The first heats were okay: Álex Rins seemed to have come out of his bad patch and was back on the podium, twice, while Mir was 4th. But from Portugal, nothing.
The two Spaniards go through the season, without offering anything. At
Mans and Mugello, the training records two consecutive blank results. Ironically, we have to go back to the 2003 French and Italian Grands Prix to find such a poor record over two races, with Kenny Roberts Jr. et John Hopkins on the handlebars. To make matters worse, Rins gets mowed down by Takaaki Nakagami in Catalonia and gets injured.
It is not the multiple retirements that make the performance sad, but it is the way in which Suzuki reacts, or no longer reacts. At Barcelona, Mir spoke about this loss of motivation in very harsh terms – after qualifying
17e –: “We are in a rut.”
That the good days are far away. Photo: Michelin Motorsport
Bringing Mir up in 2019 was daring. Suzuki found himself with two young people, fiery and surly as possible. This warrior state of mind was also rewarded with a title in 2020. Today, the duo is no longer incisive and has lost its freshness. And it doesn't get any prettier in detail. Joan Mir counted 134 point after 11 Grands Prix last year, and 137 in 2020. After Assen, it points to
77 units, the largest gross loss among officials from one year to the next (even ahead of Viñales). He still has no podium, no best lap in a race and no pole, an exercise in which he has always failed. His consistency was his strength, but that's not even really the case anymore. Four times, Mir did not score points (he was carried away by Miller in Portugal). It's already more than its seasons 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Even when he finishes, he's not as competitive as before. During his sacred year, he brought back
15,5 points average every time he crossed the line, and even brought this total to
19,18 in 2021, against only
11 This year. If he dominated Rins considerably, that is no longer the case. When both drivers finished the race (six times), Mir was ahead of his teammate
thrice. Last year, after 11 rounds, Joan dominated 5 to 1. So certainly, the motorcycle plays a role but these figures are significant. Especially since Rins is doing better than last year. At this point in the season, he counted
42 point salary. 75 today, and this with the same number of white results (5). When he finishes, he scores 10,71 point on average – counting his poor performance in Jerez, 19th without falling – against only 8,4 last year. A clear progression which further highlights Mir's poor form.
What does this give us? A team 6th in the standings, drivers in the soft underbelly of the championship, with a former world champion losing momentum and a promising talent who is gradually rebuilding himself, but still too irregular. We must hope for a rebound, because the end of the season could be longer than expected…
What do you think of Suzuki this year? Is this the biggest disappointment of this 2022 season?
The statistics show that Rins is getting back on track, but not yet enough to pull the team up. Photo: Michelin Motorsport
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
