The 2014 Suzuki MotoGP test team of Randy De Puniet and Nobuatsu Aoki were joined in mid-April at the Circuit of The Americas by Suzuki’s 1993 World 500cc GP Champion Kevin Schwantz.
The video from Suzuki Motor Corporation goes behind the scenes with the ongoing development of the GSX-RR machine as its full return to racing in 2015 drew closer.
Schwantz, who also tested the American Suzuki Superbike team’s GSX-R1000, said at the time: “I went on the MotoGP machine after riding the GSX-R1000 Superbike and it felt like going from a 500cc to a 250cc bike; the MotoGP machine is so small and compact. With this bike you have power and braking so you brake and accelerate, and the bike does all the rest. I think Suzuki should race now – the sooner the better!”
De Puniet commented at the test: “This was a new track for Suzuki but also I have not ridden the bike since February. We spend some time changing the settings and the gearbox ratios, then we continued to compare two different frames and we found again that the best one here was the one we chose at the Sepang test and we confirmed it again that this is more-stable in the corner entry. Also, in the afternoon we tested different electronic maps.”
Suzuki MotoGP Test Team Manager Davide Brivio added: “A positive day on a completely new circuit for us. One of the main targets is to continue the development of the new electronics and also to collect useful information on this track for next year when we will be racing. It was also very emotional to have Kevin Schwantz – everybody’s hero – riding our bike here. He was quite fast considering the conditions, so we’d like to thank Kevin for this gift!”
