American Suzuki Motor Corp. Goes Boldly Into 2010
Brea, Calif. - December 7, 2009 - American Suzuki announced at the
International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California on Friday, its
significant racing agenda for 2010. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki racing
efforts won an unprecedented six championships in 2009, dominating the
Supercross, Motocross, Road Racing and ATV championship series, and
Suzuki has committed to putting the competition-crushing GSX-Rs, RM-Zs,
and QuadRacer on top of the podium in 2010.
"Suzuki products are truly industry leading and we stand behind them 100
percent," Senior Advertising Manager Steve Bortolamedi explained. "We
proved that last year with our six titles. For 2010, what better way to
demonstrate this again than by putting our reputation on the line?"
Suzuki will commit to a larger racing effort along with returning
sponsors Rockstar Energy Drink and Makita tools, which will be managed by
long-time partner Yoshimura R&D of America. Yoshimura will house all of
the Rockstar Makita Suzuki racing teams under one roof.
"Yoshimura will be managing Suzuki racing efforts in Supercross,
Motocross, Road Racing, and ATV Racing," Yoshimura R&D Senior Vice
President Don Sakakura said. "We hope to be able to showcase the
performance of the Suzuki line of high-performance motorcycles and ATVs.
Suzuki is proud of their products and is ready for the upcoming racing
season. We at Yoshimura are equally looking forward to 2010."
Suzuki revealed its impressive roster of racers for the 2010 season.
Road Racing: Tommy Hayden and Blake Young are both returning to take the
championship-winning GSX-R 1000 to the top of the AMA Pro Superbike
class.
Supercross/Motocross: Racing phenom Ryan Dungey is returning to the team
for 2010 aboard the unstoppable RM-Z450. Australian Matt Moss, who won
the 2009 Australian National Pro Lites Championship as well as the
Australasian Supercross Pro Lites Championship, will join Dungey in the
450 class. Rounding out the team will be Austin Stroupe, who's set to
compete in the Pro Lites East series aboard the RM-Z250.
ATV: Back-to-back AMA ATV Motocross champion Dustin Wimmer will defend
his number 1 plate aboard the QuadRacer R450, and he will be joined by
racing up-and-comer Josh Creamer.
GNCC: Josh Strang will return to the XC1 class to win with the RM-Z450.
When asked about Suzuki's chances for the 2010 season, Sakakura was
optimistic, "With great sponsors like Rockstar, Makita and the Suzuki
family of program partners, it really frees us up to go out and win
races. With team managers like Roger DeCoster in MX, Pete Doyle in Road
Racing, and Kory Ellis and Kevin Mummah in ATV, I'd say we are looking
pretty good."
Suzuki's "Champions Choose Suzuki Tour" is traveling to all the IMS
motorcycle events, allowing the public to get a close-up view of Suzuki's
numerous championship-winning machines. The tour includes Mat Mladin's
2009 GSX-R 1000 superbike, which helped the legendary racer capture his
seventh AMA Superbike title.
Along with securing its championship race pedigree for the upcoming 2010
season, Suzuki also solidified its reputation for industry-leading
technology with the launch of the new 2010 RMX450Z and RM-Z250
motorcycles, as well as the updated RM-Z450. Suzuki unveiled these highly
anticipated machines at the show.
-credit: suzuki
