In a decision that caught everyone by surprise - from the members of the team itself to the rest of the paddock - Suzuki decided in early 2022 to shut down its MotoGP programme at the end of the campaign. Despite the brutal blow for the Hamamatsu-based team, which had to face most of the year with an uncertain future, the manufacturer left the championship in the best possible way from a sporting perspective, with two victories in the last three rounds.
Those two wins scored by Alex Rins in Australia and Valencia certified that the GSX-RR was one of the best bikes on the grid, if not the most complete of them all. With the base of that same bike, two years earlier, Joan Mir had brought the title back to Suzuki two decades after Kenny Roberts Jr was crowned in 2000.
