It’s been a very long goodbye for the Suzuki MotoGP Team, but that hasn’t made it any easier. The manufacturer sprung the surprise news on the squad following the Spanish Grand Prix in May, 2022. The shock of the abrupt departure rippled through the team for months, with riders Joan Mir and Alex Rins struggling in the following rounds.
After battling through injuries and lackluster results, the outfit finished on a high note. Rins returned to the top step of the podium with a win at the Australian Grand Prix. He repeated that result just two rounds later at the final race of the season in Valencia, Spain. Luckily, both Mir and Rins landed with Honda-supported teams for the 2023 season, saying goodbye to the only OEM they’ve both raced with in the MotoGP class.
As 2022 draws to a close, Suzuki is wrapping up its Grand Prix operations. That includes crushing remaining GSX-RR race machines and suspending activity on the team’s official website, but the House of Hamamatsu isn’t forgetting its fans in the process. As a fond farewell, the brand released one final digital photobook on December 26, 2022.
The 119-slide, 229-page book not only chronicles the long road of the 2022 season, but also recaps Suzuki’s triumphant return to the Grand Prix series. After a four-year hiatus, the firm entered MotoGP yet again in 2015, fielding then-rookie Maverick Vinales and wily veteran Aleix Espargaro. The two finished the team’s inaugural season with respectable results, but Top Gun elevated the squad in 2017 with his first victory.
Unfortunately, Vinales parted ways with the outfit following the 2017 season, but Andrea Iannone and 2017 rookie Alex Rins kept the operation afloat. The pair would secure nine podiums in 2018 before Joan Mir joined the team in 2019. Of course, Mir secured Suzuki its fifth Premier Class Grand Prix championship in 2020. Sadly, he couldn’t repeat that feat in 2021, but the Spanish rider kept the team in the hunt all year long.
Once the narrative progresses to the 2022 season, it lets the pictures do the talking. We may have had to say goodbye to Suzuki’s MotoGP Team for the last seven months, but the new digital photobook will ensure the squad’s memories will last forever.
