After seeing some of the ‘scoop’ pictures online of the 2015 Suzuki MotoGP bike, I couldn’t help but want to check out their back catalogue again. Like hearing a new song by an old favourite, you always end up going back to the songs that originally stuck in your mind. Like the Suzuki RGV500.
I’ve shared garages with some of the Suzuki RGV500s that diced and sliced their way into the history books. The most obvious legends are those that carried #34 on their nose. Schwantz and the RGV500 go together like steak and chips. Or Doohan and Honda, or Rainey and Yamaha. Loyalty is big in Japan.
Thanks to the efforts of some collectors, many of these bikes are kept out of museums and alive on the track. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not a massive fan of the retro events that appear to multiply in number every year. But the positive effect is that there screaming two-stroke missiles are usually in attendance, away from the celebrities awaiting their cheques.
The swansong for the Suzuki RGV500 was the championship winner ridden by Kenny Roberts Jr in 2000. After struggling to develop the family Modenas effort, Roberts Jr showed his talent by taking two surprise wins at the start of 1999 ahead of Mick Doohan. When the third race saw Doohan retire from racing due to injuries, it was Spaniard Alex Criville who kept the trophy at Honda. But in 2000 Criville faded, and the challenge of Italians Max Biaggi and newcomer Valentino Rossi took a while to get going. In the meantime Roberts Jr had built up a lead that he kept to the final round. The following year saw the end of two-stroke GP racing and the start of the Rossi-era.
It was a strange echo of the first Grand Prix title for the RGV500, which saw Schwantz finally achieve the consistency that had eluded him in the past. And also a career-ending accident for Wayne Rainey with three rounds of the championship remaining. In the final standings, Rainey still took second in the standings with one less win that Schwantz. And in fourth was an Australian rider who had started racing for Honda, and would take the title in 1994 to start the Doohan-era of dominance.
Another coincidence was that Alex Barros started his first season in Grand Prix racing for Suzuki in 1993, taking one win that year. And he was still riding in GPs in 2000 – he finally finished his career in 2007 riding for the Pramac d’Antin Ducati team.
In all the Suzuki RGV500 took 37 race wins:
- Kevin Schwantz 25 wins.
- Kenny Roberts Jr 8 wins.
- Daryl Beattie 2 wins.
- Alex Barros 1 win.
- Sete Gibernau 1 win.
Whichever brand or rider you support, it’ll be good to see a Suzuki back on the MotoGP grid, and hopefully we may see a new icon to match the legacy of Schwantz and the RGV500. The four-stroke successor, the Suzuki GSV-R, never managed the same success with Roberts Jr, John Hopkins, Chris Vermeulen. Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP following a 2011 season which saw Alvaro Bautista finished in 13th overall.
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