lasting relationship with the Suzuki Company is that I have had the chance to see the development of many projects, both of racing and production bikes. It is fascinating, and somehow funny to me, to notice the differences between the development of the old racing machines and the current ones. Moreover, I note the contrast between a racing bike, which is mainly meant to suit one single rider, and a production bike which to the contrary is meant to please hundreds of thousands of riders around the world. “When I was in my early years in the Race Department and we were developing the V4 MotoGP bike 990cc and 800cc, the priority, that 14TEAM SUZUKI RACING NEwSwhich took us the most time, was building up a very competitive base package in its entirety. Now, with the in-line four engine machine, the base package is already much more sophisticated. The potential of all the Factory bikes are incredibly close, and this means that even the smallest details can affect the lap time by 0.1 or 0.2 seconds. However, with the current state of competitiveness, even 0.1s may mean four or five positions on the grid or in the race. This makes it obvious that every single detail, even the smallest, matters. Now fulThlling the potential of the best bike in the paddock is signiThcantly more dificult than before. “One of the reasons that I prefer working with Suzuki is their core philosophy, which is the same that has driven the developments of all their racing machines, even the most different ones and the production bikes as well. That is to make the fundamental potential its most effective and enjoyable. Then, around that fundamental potential, we create and arrange all the details. But at its core the key is: rideability. I´d like to think that even without electronics a Suzuki bike is easy to ride. “When I pprst joined the Production Bikes department for the development of the “big” sport machines series, such as the GSX-S1000 and the GSX-R1000, I was a little scared by the challenge. Then I realised that with a strong core philosophy it was not a big deal to work either on a racing machine or an “everyday” machine. It is not really a matter of initial approach, but more a matter of Dene-tuning. The big difference is: with a racing machine, you design and develop a performance base and then you adjust and tailor make the machine for a single rider, the MotoGP hero; with the GSX-RR1000, you still develop a performance base and then you modify it to suit the needs, capabilities, and potential of thousands of people around the world.“I learned that not only do we transfer the knowledge we get from racing bikes to production bikes, but also the production bikes development can teach us countless useful lessons for the development of the racing machines.”2017 Issue #2 - AutumnMr. Shinichi Sahara is the MotoGP Project leader and SMC Racing Group Manager. He is a long-experienced manager who has worked with Suzuki in the development of many of the racing bikes that have competed in the World Championship. From 1996 to 2011 he contributed to the development of all the racing bikes that competed in the Superbike and MotoGP world Championships. His extensive experience was then seized on by Suzuki with his subsequent involvement in production bike development. He is one of the fathers of the brand new, innovative, and super performing GSX-R 1000, as well as all the big sport bikes models. After the new “Gixxer” had been successfully launched on the market, in June 2017 he returned to the Racing Group, becoming the new Project Leader of the MotoGP project, in charge of the technical and sport management of the Team Suzuki MotoGP.SHINICHI BLOG ‘It’s a matter of details and sophistication’SAHARA “The good thing of having such a long-
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