It’s the end of an era as Yoshimura exits road racing in America. Taking up the official Suzuki mantle is Team Hammer.

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MotoAmerica has announced that Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. has reached an agreement with Team Hammer to become its official team for the 2020 MotoAmerica Series. In addition to its continued participation in Supersport and Twins Cup, Team Hammer will now field Suzuki’s premier Superbikes and add the Stock 1000 class to its list. The team enters the series as Team Hammer Suzuki. Riders for each class will be announced later.

Suzuki and Team Hammer have a long history together. With more than 30 years of valued partnership, Suzuki and Team Hammer have clinched numerous victories, proving Suzuki sportbikes are among the best in the world with power-driven performance and a championship-winning reputation.

Most recently, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong became the 2019 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion aboard a GSX-R600 while Roadracing World Young Gun Alex Dumas took the Twins Cup title on an SV650 this past season. Team Hammer Suzuki is looking to build off that momentum and add more victories to the list as the team is set to field Suzuki’s premier Superbike team.

“We’re very happy that Suzuki is continuing its support of the MotoAmerica Series,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “Suzuki has been with us from the beginning and has continued to use our series to both develop and sell their motorcycles. Congratulations also to Team Hammer. That team has worked hard, has been a fixture in racing for a long, long time and has shown the ability to win lots of championships. We know that Suzuki will be in good hands at the racetrack in 2020 and beyond.”

In 2020, Team Hammer will celebrate its 40th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. In addition to a decorated list of accomplishments in various national and international championships, Team Hammer’s success at the AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National level is exceptional. To date, riders on bikes prepared and fielded by the team have earned an accumulated seven AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National titles while racking up 83 race victories and 234 podium finishes in MotoAmerica Superbike, MotoAmerica Supersport, MotoAmerica Twins Cup, AMA Formula Xtreme, AMA 750cc Supersport, and AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike.

Along with a record of preparing, developing, and fielding championship-caliber equipment, Team Hammer is known for its ability to identify and foster talent, whether it be up-and-coming riders, overlooked international riders, or established veterans looking to reignite their careers.

Superstars Kevin Schwantz, Ben Spies, Scott Russell, Josh Hayes, Jamie James, John Hopkins, and Thomas Stevens are among many who have ridden Team Hammer-tuned Suzuki race bikes at the start of their professional careers.

After over 40 years together, Yoshimura R&D will no longer field Suzuki Superbikes. Yoshimura will remain an important partner for marketing and R&D efforts for Suzuki but with a different focus and will continue to build upon their strong business relationship moving forward, according to the release from Suzuki.

Don Sakakura, President of Yoshimura R&D commented on the unparalleled relationship between Suzuki and Yoshimura that spanned some four decades: “Yoshimura’s partnership with Suzuki has been instrumental to our core business the past 41 years,” said Sakakura. “As a team, we accomplished tremendous racing milestones, leaving behind many special celebrations, as well as setbacks. Personally, it has been a true privilege to have worked closely with management and staff at Suzuki. The friendships I’ve developed will carry over my lifetime. Notably, the engineering team at Suzuki’s Japan headquarters has been extremely significant in our successes over the years.”

Suzuki echoed Sakakura’s comments and thanked Yoshimura for its contribution to 212 race wins and 14 Championships in the AMA Superbike class, the most of any manufacturer.

Kerry Graeber, Suzuki’s vice president of sales and marketing stated that the Suzuki Yoshimura relationship remains strong.

“Though Yoshimura won’t be operating our road racing team moving forward, we look forward to continuing together in many other aspects of our business.”

Graeber noted that Yoshimura remains integral with JGR/Suzuki, the company’s supercross/motocross race team, as well as several sales and marketing programs. Graeber sees that not only continuing, but also possibly expanding.

Team Hammer Suzuki will make its debut on March 10-11, 2020 at the 2020 MotoAmerica Preseason Test at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

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MIC is taking steps to not only bring in and excite new riders, but also to bring awareness about motorcyclists to non-riders.

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A strategy playbook, a new online portal for new riders, and a new director of ridership position highlighted an afternoon presentation to hundreds of guests at this year’s Motorcycle Industry Council Communications Symposium.

“More Riders, Riding More – The Ridership Session” outlined these action plans for the developing industry-wide initiative, presented by MIC staff and strategic consulting company Centauric at the Nov. 21 symposium in Long Beach, Calif., which saw a record number of attendees. The Ridership Session was free and open to anyone in the industry, and was live-streamed as well.

Video of “The Ridership Session” can be viewed at mic.org/ridership.

Helping non-riders gain an awareness of motorcycling and consider riding is at the heart of the new strategy playbook, a free, shared roadmap that the MIC will make available to the whole industry. A beta version was available for the audience to see on their mobile devices. Months of research revealed that almost all potential motorcyclists – from any background, age, gender, or race – if spoken to with specifically themed messages, can be well on their way to identifying with the riding experience. The playbook will help companies assess their messaging and identify what needs to change to help accelerate an interest in riding among new audiences.

“If we can align our messages – and I’m speaking to everyone in this room and across our industry – if we can align our messages to what these people want and need to hear, and we can create experiences that address the barriers they’ve identified, we will succeed in creating a new, modern era of riders and riding,” said Larry Little, MIC vice president and the staff project lead on the ridership initiative. He reiterated that while the MIC is making the initial investment in a long-term industry program, it will be incumbent on all of the industry working together, with the newly developed knowledge, to create new riders.

To help get future motorcyclists past the barriers to riding, the MIC is building a primary online portal where potential riders can learn more about riding, training, equipment, gear, rider groups, and all things motorcycling. This gateway to the riding experience will be branded and designed so that information is easy to access, with tools to help people navigate their path.

“Of course, this is attractive to a generation used to having information at their fingertips,” said MIC President and CEO Erik Pritchard. “Here’s the bottom line: If we want more people to ride more, we must remove barriers, make it as easy as possible for them and connect motorcycle riding with positive emotions. This portal to motorcycling is the first, essential step for our collective efforts to succeed.”

To oversee these efforts, the MIC will hire a director of ridership, a new position at the association. The ridership initiative will be the director’s sole, full-time job, and will be supported by other MIC staff.

Pritchard added that, going forward, the entire industry must be expansive and speak to a broader, more diverse population who would choose to ride if provided the right opportunity and connection to the experience. The industry must also be consumer-centric, paying attention to what potential riders feel, think, want, and need, and making sure the experience, message, or product is designed to match their perspectives.

He said the industry must be comprehensive and must connect with potential riders on an emotional and rational level, instead of focusing on technical specs. We must be responsible, Pritchard said, and promote safe riding, and we need to be collaborative, with everyone’s actions supporting the strategy playbook as well as their individual company’s success.

Tina Beranbaum, Centauric behavioral scientist, stressed that this is a big, collaborative effort. She said there is an as-yet untapped audience of people we might not have thought of as potential riders, and we must be working together as an industry to capture their interest. “The potential is much bigger than you might have imagined.”

The Motorcycle Industry Council exists to preserve, protect, and promote motorcycling through government relations, communications, and media relations, statistics and research, aftermarket programs, development of data communications standards, and activities surrounding technical and regulatory issues. As a not-for-profit national industry association, the MIC seeks to support motorcyclists by representing manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and retailers of motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, ROVs, motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts, accessories and related goods and services, and members of allied trades such as insurance, finance and investment companies, media companies, and consultants.

The MIC is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with a government relations office in metropolitan Washington, D.C. First called the MIC in 1970, the organization has been in operation since 1914. Visit the MIC at mic.org.

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Racing legends Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi swapped rides at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain.

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#LH44VR46

Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 11th December 2019 – Historic machinery swap completed between F1 and MotoGP World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

In a historic moment for both Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi, as well as their respective sports, the pair completed an unprecedented track day as each swapped machinery at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Valentino Rossi drove The Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+, a car that won the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport at the hands of Lewis Hamilton, whilst Lewis rode the 2019 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 bike that only weeks earlier had been piloted by Valentino at the very same circuit.

The significance of the occasion was not lost on either Lewis or Valentino who have made no secret of their admiration and respect for each other in recent years. Acting as a mentor for the other, the pair were able to complete multiple runs on each other‘s machinery and share insight, learn about each other‘s craft and enjoy a unique experience.

The six-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton:

“It‘s so awesome to see a legend like Valentino in the car. I‘m excited for him for discovering the car for the first time. Reminds me of my first time in a F1 car. When you see all the team around you, it‘s just a different animal.”

Of his time out on track riding the Yamaha YZR-M1 with Rossi he added: “It was so cool to be out on track and see Valentino ahead of me on the same bike.”

“I was already a big fan of Lewis before, but now even more. We had a fantastic day, where the two top classes of motorsports not only met but worked together.

“Trying the W08 was a spectacular opportunity for me. I have tried an F1 car before, but much has changed since then. Sincerely, I was impressed with the car and its handling, as well as with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team, who were great to work with. They were very welcoming and made it easy for me to get familiar with the car.

“At first you get an amazing sensation of speed. The G-forces were not so bad, but it takes some getting used to. Once I got into the rhythm I could really push. It was a great pleasure. I felt like a real F1 driver for a day. I didn‘t want the day to end!

“I also rode the YZR-M1 on track with Lewis. It was a proud moment for the team to share our passion with him. Technically, Valencia is a hard track, and it was windy, so at one point I thought it could be difficult for Lewis, but he was brilliant on the bike and his position on the M1 was great. I really enjoyed sharing this experience with him, and I think he had loads of fun too, demonstrated by how reluctant he was to stop riding! I sincerely hope we will get to have many more experiences like this in the future.” – VALENTINO ROSSI

“It was an exceptional day. To have Lewis together with us and Valentino, two icons of sport at the same time and place, was really amazing. I’m really happy that I could be there to witness it and to enjoy it.

“I was very impressed by Lewis’ performance because how many four-wheel champions could come here and get on an M1, go out there, and do themselves proud? It’s very difficult to ride a motorcycle fast on track and even more challenging and demanding to ride a factory MotoGP bike.

“What stood out to me the most was the moment when he and Valentino were out, really close together, side by side on their M1s. Lewis has said that he’s been a fan of MotoGP and Valentino for years. It was his wish to ride on track together with Valentino and to have the experience one day to ride an M1, and he got both wishes at the same time! It was fantastic to see that even a six-time Formula 1 World Champion who has already achieved so many things, can still realise a dream at a special occasion like this.

“We are also very pleased for Valentino, who had another chance to test himself in an F1 car. He clearly thoroughly enjoyed himself, and we heard very positive feedback from the Mercedes team as well. All in all, I think it was a great, unique event.” –LIN JARVIS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, YAMAHA MOTOR RACING

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