Suzuki has presented a Yoshimura SERT Motul replica Hayabusa to reigning endurance world champion and MotoGP test rider Sylvain Guintoli, to celebrate the Frenchman’s titles and contribution to Suzuki’s racing successes in recent years.
Despite doing his racing on a GSX-R1000, Guintoli has always expressed a fondness for the Hayabusa and the creaminess of its 1340cc, turbine-like engine. As a result, Suzuki has combined the two, with his third generation Hayabusa sporting the iconic red and black livery of Yoshimura-powered endurance machines.
To get himself more acquainted with the latest iteration of the Hayabusa, the French ace took it to a track day at Donington Park, mixing it with race bikes in the fast group.
After a full day’s riding, he said, “Firstly, the bike looks amazing, I have to thank Suzuki for this beautiful bike to celebrate our successes over the past few years. Out on track the Hayabusa is fantastic, the throttle response is so linear and power delivery is smooth, it inspires so much confidence to push harder! While this is a stock bike, the Hayabusa held its own here at Donington today.”
Guintoli won both the Le Mans 24-hour and the Bol d’Or with Suzuki in 2021, on his way to the world title with teammates Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon. The team also won the 2022 running the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour and currently lead the championship. His dedicated development work also helped Team Suzuki ECSTAR and Joan Mir take the 2020 MotoGP world championship.
The third generation Hayabusa, launched in 2021, blends modern technology with classicHayabusa design features, including its twin analogue dials flanking a smart, colour TFT screen and the unmistakable, iconic silhouette paying homage to the original hyperbike.
It has a sophisticated electronics package, which includes three power modes, 10 modes of lean angle-sensitive traction control, lean angle-sensitive ABS, three modes of launch control, a bidirectional quickshifter, and cruise control, while its engine delivers an abundance of smooth, linear power across the rev range.
