Suzuki MotoGP team hire Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales to race in their 2015 comeback season

THE final piece of Suzuki’s 2015 return to MotoGP has been confirmed with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales announced as their riders.

THE final piece of Suzuki’s return to MotoGP has been confirmed with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales announced as their riders for the 2015 season.

The Japanese manufacturer will return to the world championship as a full-time, factory backed entry next year, ending a three-year absence from the grid.

The new bike, christened the GSX-RR, was officially unveiled at the Intermot Fair in Germany on Tuesday, where the team confirmed its rider line-up.

Espargaro and Vinales fit the brief outlined by team manager Davide Brivio, who aimed to recruit two young riders; one fast, experienced gun alongside a rising star.

Espargaro will lead the team next year, the announcement coming off the back of him finishing second at the Aragon MotoGP, a career best in what has been a breakthrough season for the Spaniard.

Vinales, the reigning Moto3 champion, will make the step up to the sport’s top class after spending a single season in Moto2 where has won two grand prix, including the most recent Moto2 race at Aragon.

Suzuki also confirmed they will compete as a wildcard entry in the final MotoGP round of 2014 at Valencia, as revealed by SPEED in June.

They have not confirmed who will race the bike, with both of their test riders currently injured. Nobuatsu Aoki is still recovering from breaking his hand at the Suzuka 8 Hour, while Randy de Puniet was hurt in a testing crash at Mugello last week.

Suzuki’s return to the sport is aligned with their street bike offering, with the aim of spreading the knowledge learned to their bikes on the showroom floor.

“Through MotoGP racing, Suzuki will develop more attractive products by giving technical feedback to the products, as well as improve the brand image,” Suzuki’s statement said.

“The development of the GSX-RR was started in 2012 with the aim to achieve high performance in the MotoGP class, as well as to give technology feedback to production models such as the GSX-R range.”

The bike has been testing since late 2013, but has yet to match the pace of the frontrunning Hondas and Yamaha when they joined the MotoGP field in the official post-race tests at Jerez and Catalunya this year.

Suzuki have a decorated history in the sport’s premier class. They were leading contenders in the 500cc era, winning world championships with Barry Sheene, Marco Lucchinelli, Franco Uncini, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr, but failed to reach the same heights in the MotoGP era.

Australian Chris Vermeulen is the last rider to win a MotoGP race on a Suzuki, taking his sole premier class victory at the 2007 French MotoGP.

Suzuki will return to MotoGP in 2015.

Originally published as Suzuki MotoGP team hire Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales to race in their 2015 comeback season