SUZUKI TECH: READY TO WIN

Suzuki take another step closer to the title thanks to relentless development

Suzuki have been slowly climbing towards the pinnacle of MotoGP and 2020 may just be the year that the GSX-RR finally challenges for the title. The bike is ready and so are the riders – 2019 Silverstone and CoTA winner Alex Rins is riding faster than ever and last year’s rookie Joan Mir isn’t far behind. When the first GSX-RR arrived in 2015 it stunned riders – some said the bike steered like a 250, which is the ultimate compliment you can give any racing motorcycle – and it is still the best-balanced bike on the grid. That’s why Suzuki engineers have always gently chipped away at the design, changing the bike millimetre by millimetre, to reduce its inadequacies without jeopardising its good points.

The inline-four GSX-RR will never have more horsepower than the Honda and Ducati V4s, so it needs to overcome its speed deficit in other ways.

For 2020 Suzuki have worked on this problem in two areas: a new aluminium frame replaces the carbon-fibre reinforced ones used since 2017, and is built with a different stiffness/rigidity philosophy to offer better turning and improved braking stability. Better turning allows riders to get the bike into the acceleration phase sooner, so they can get on the throttle quicker. And improved braking stability helps riders regain time lost on the straights.

In fact the GSX-RR should’ve been battling for the title for a while, but Suzuki have been fighting back from a poor 2017 when they ran a bad engine spec. They increased crankshaft mass slightly too much and paid the price. That’s the kind of fine line that MotoGP engineers have to tread.

HORSEPOWER

Just like Yamaha, Suzuki struggle to create V4beating power. This is because inline-fours lose power through greater friction and pumping losses, meaning they need to find speed elsewhere. At the Sepang tests the GSX-RR was 3mph slower than the best Ducati.

CRANKSHAFT

Suzuki’s 2019 victories cost the factory its concessions, so this year they aren’t allowed any engine upgrades. That’s why they’ve put a big effort into getting crankshaft mass just right: too little inertia allows wheelspin, too much spoils turning.

TORDUCTOR

Honda were the first factory to use a socalled ‘torductor’, derived from Formula 1, in 2011. Suzuki first fitted a torductor last year, which allows them to make better maps for torque delivery, traction control and engine braking strategies.

TWIN PIPES

Suzuki have stayed with the super-cool twin-pipe Akrapovic exhaust which they first used at the start of last season. The four-intoone-into-two system gives fractional benefits in topend power and mid-range torque – and when they’re already suffering a bhp deficit, every little helps.

CHASSIS

The GSX-RR is an easyriding bike, just like Yamaha’s M1, but Suzuki’s chassis designers have been even cleverer, creating a bike that allows riders to use either cornerspeed and stop-and-go techniques, according to the available grip conditions on the day.