Just as MD decided to take a short Thanksgiving break, Suzuki dropped a bombshell of sorts by announcing that it would campaign a four-stroke from the start of next year’s MotoGP series.
Suzuki’s testing apparently confirms what MD suspected, i.e., even a “half baked” 990cc four-stroke will beat a 500cc two-stroke, both in lap times and in race times. With all of the major manufacturers now relegating their two-strokes to the “B” team riders next year, the top riders will fight it out on the new four-strokes.One interesting thing to note is this. All of the manufacturers developing four-strokes are thrilled to death with the performance their new engines have achieved. They all think they can win the MotoGP championship next year. Of course, they are making the mistake of benchmarking the old 500s, not the new four-strokes developed by their competition.
Here is a link to Suzuki’s full annoucement, as well as a photo of the full prototype machine.
