Suzuki MotoGP pares down to one rider in 2011

In a widely expected move, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that it will shrink its former two-man team in MotoGP down to a single rider for the 2011 season. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista, who signed a two-year contract starting with the ’10 season, will be the sole rider in the Suzuki squad next year; veteran Loris Capirossi—Bautista’s teammate this year—has signed with the Pramac Ducati squad for ’11, to be paired with former LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet.

With the worldwide economic downturn affecting the motorcycle manufacturers more heavily than other industries, Suzuki’s mostly self-sponsored MotoGP team (Rizla’s funding support is said to be minimal compared to the major sponsors of the other factory teams) is a definite financial drain on the comparatively small company. And with its results so far in the MotoGP era languishing in the also-ran category, Suzuki’s involvement was always thought to be teetering on the verge of withdrawal (just as Kawasaki pulled the plug back in ’08) for the past few years. The stumbling block to that pullout is the contract the company has with the MSMA (Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association, representing the OEMs in MotoGP), which is said to specify involvement until ’12. MotoGP rightsholders Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has already been saber-rattling about possible breach of contract legal proceedings if Suzuki did pull out, so this may be an appeasement similar to Kawasaki’s fielding then-rider Marco Melandri for ’09 on a “privateer” Kawasaki (with no updates or factory involvement during that season)—although there is surely a financial penalty of some sort involved as well.