Suzuki has announced that Livio Suppo will join the marque as its new Team Manager with immediate effect, finally bringing its long-reaching search for a team boss to an end.
The Japanese brand has been looking for a new team manager for some time since the departure of Davide Brivio to the Alpine Formula 1 team at the end of 2020, with Suzuki Project Leader Shinichi Sahara electing to absolve the role into his own for 2021 rather than hire a replacement.
Sahara admitted recently though that he had rather too much on his plate last season as he struggled to find time to visit Suzuki’s engineers in Japan as well as look after the race operation, and when dialogue with Brivio – who was rumoured to be looking for a way out of Alpine before ultimately staying put – came to nothing, Suppo was chosen for the role.
Suppo says he is “very proud” to be able to return to the MotoGP paddock four years since leaving Honda, insisting that he has been “missing” the hustle and bustle of running a grand prix outfit.
“I am very proud to become Suzuki Ecstar’s Team Manager and happy to re-join the MotoGP Championship after four years,” said Suppo.
“I’m also very honoured to be involved in this great project with Suzuki; for sure it will be a challenging task to be part of an historic manufacturer in MotoGP, who recently achieved the crown in 2020 in the year of their 100th anniversary.
“I also feel it will be a great experience to start working with two talented riders like Joan Mir and Alex Rins, both capable of fighting for the top in MotoGP. Sahara-san’s proposal came at the perfect time for me, I had been busy setting up my e-bike company but I was certainly missing the paddock and ready to come back.
“Racing has been my life for almost all my career and I will do my best to bring my experience to Team Suzuki Ecstar.
“It’s a difficult challenge for everybody involved, where all the small details can make the difference, I am ready to be part of the game again and give my all to be on top with Suzuki.”
Suppo has been absent from the MotoGP paddock since leaving Honda’s factory outfit at the end of 2017 having run the operation for seven years, the experienced Italian having also headed up Ducati’s premier class squad for 11 years prior to his Honda stint – including through its only riders title scored to date by Casey Stoner in 2007.
Suzuki heads into 2022 looking to improve on a relative average 2021 showing after securing the riders title the previous year with Joan Mir, as well as the team’s prize.
The Spaniard could only manage third overall last year without a single win, while team-mate Alex Rins was a lowly 13th having scored just a single rostrum all season – leaving Suzuki alongside Aprilia as the only manufacturers of the six involved in MotoGP to not score a success.
