In any case, if anyone can emerge victorious from a challenge of such dimensions, it is the Italian executive, who lands at the Hamamatsu brand after a long experience in MotoGP. The most notable milestone on their record is the title won by Ducati in 2007 at the hands of Casey Stoner , the only one they have held to date at Borgo Panigale . After signing for Honda in 2010 – initially as communication director – he added another five crowns (2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), forming a peculiar tandem with Shuhei Nakamoto , at that time director of HRC. In a move that caught him off guard, the builder of the golden wing decided to relieve him of his position at the end of 2017 to put Alberto Puig in his place. Since then, the man from Turin has focused on a project in the field of electric bicycles, even though his intention was always to return to the MotoGP paddock. Now he will do it dressed in the Suzuki uniform and without a second to lose.
Provided that the covid allows it, Suppo will travel to Qatar next week for the start of the World Cup scheduled for Sunday. There he must begin to take care of the multitude of folders that Shinichi Sahara left unattended in recent months. As he himself has recognized every time he has been asked, the Japanese was completely overwhelmed by the departure of Davide Brivio to the Alpine Formula 1 team in January of last year. In large part, this was due to the undervaluation that he made of the tasks that fell to the previous team manager, and that at first he was in a position to handle, in parallel to the technical issue, which is basically his business. .
As soon as he realized his mistake, Sahara ‘s main strategy was focused on recovering Brivio for the cause. However, the executive will remain another season in the French structure, although in a different position, in charge of the young drivers division and sports projects outside of F1. Alpine’s reorganization was announced on Thursday, and a week later Suzuki announced the arrival of Suppo, who is fully aware that he was not the first choice for that position, even though his name appeared on the list of candidates. Being aware of this information, the newly appointed head of the Japanese manufacturer is presented with a few weeks of frenetic work, and which will most likely also define his journey within the blue motorcycle company.
One of the main issues in which he will have to get involved will be the configuration of the Suzuki rider pair from next year, given that the contracts of Joan Mir and Alex Rins expire at the end of this. As Sahara acknowledged in a statement made this winter to Motorsport.com , his intention is to renew the agreement with both. “Suzuki wants to renew them and has already communicated it,” he told the writer of these lines. The extension of the link with Mir is fundamental, both in the strictly competitive aspect and in the emotional one, because it would indirectly reaffirm the aspirations of a team that, lately, had begun to have doubts about the solidity of the project and the aspirations of the brand. in the world Cup. It will be necessary to know, in any case, how the Mallorcan will digest the landing of his new boss. Rins, for his part, has had no problem stating in recent weeks that he missed Brivio, and that he would have loved to have him back.
Parallel to these negotiations, Suppo will have to recover the morale of a troop that in the last third of the year has felt abandoned by Sahara, totally focused on the technical aspect and that neglected human management, the one that in Brivio’s time was capital to understand sporting success and harmony at Suzuki.
And all this with the championship underway and without being aware of the dynamics of a very particular structure, in which any relevant decision must be transferred to the group’s leadership leadership, in Japan, where there is anything but a hurry. There, without a doubt, they will follow him closely while he will insist on making it clear that he is just as valid to occupy the chair of team manager as his predecessor was.
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