Frustrating Yamaha and lacking motivation - Livio Suppo: "Quartararo Would have come to Suzuki"
Categories: MotoGP
For Fabio Quartararo, the Yamaha is becoming an ordeal. Livio Suppo believes had Suzuki not left MotoGP, the frustrated 2021 World Champion would have ended up with them in the near future.
Following Suzuki’s departure at the end of the 2022 MotoGP season, motorcycling’s premier class is left with just five factories.
Livio Suppo and other Suzuki staff celebrating their final win in Valencia – Image provided by Motorsport Images
Livio Suppo, former team boss at Suzuki, believes the Japanese team’s best days are yet to come. Suzuki’s results, especially in the last third of the season, confirm the Italian’s believes.
With two wins in the last three races, Suzuki’s MotoGP project ended with a big bang, the racing team showing that the decision of the parent company was the wrong one.
Just among the Japanese manufacturers, Suzuki was on a good track – Honda and Yamaha were struggling to keep up with the European manufacturers.
For Suppo, the two MotoGP superstars Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo are the main focus here.
Blessed with enormous talent, the two world champions will not miss any opportunity to switch to a more competitive machine should their own no longer do so. According to Suppo, this is also about the attractiveness of the class.
“Fabio and Marc are two of the strongest riders, but on paper they will struggle hard with their bikes. It’s a shame for the championship.”
The Italian sees dwindling motivation in the two top stars, which he wanted to use as team boss at Suzuki – at least Fabio Quartararo was his target.
If the GSX-RR had continued in MotoGP, the Frenchman would have been a top candidate for Suppo to succeed Alex Rins or Joan Mir in the future.
“It seems that Quartararo and Marc Márquez are pretty fed up with their situation. So much so that Quartararo would have come to us,” Suppo told MOW Mag. “It would have been great fun to see him on a Suzuki.”
Now that Suzuki is no longer around and Fabio QUartararo has signed a new two-year contract with Yamaha a nice thought experiment, but nothing more.
In 2023, both Quartararo and Marquez will try to attack the top again. However, the battle for the title will probably be decided between Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini. Suppo, former team manager at Ducati, analyses:
“They are two young, strong Italian riders, both on Ducati. It’s normal that there will be a big rivalry. But I think both are so balanced that they can handle the pressure.”
Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini will share a garage in 2023 – Image provided by Motorsport Images
The Italian expects a tough but fair battle for the championship title. “Already this year, sparks flew between them on the track, even though one bike was red and the other was not.”
“But they never exaggerated. I imagine they will continue to follow this line and they will be uncomfortable opponents for everyone else.”
