Suzuki's creative masterplan to topple Marquez

Alex Rins's recent victory at Silverstone carries with it a series of connotations way beyond the last-corner move the Suzuki rider put on Honda's Marc Marquez.

First up, the result puts Rins above Danilo Petrucci into third place in the championship, 23 points behind Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.

Alongside Marquez and Dovizioso, Rins is also the only rider with two wins to his name this season. Given that his chances of fighting for the title remain mathematically alive, as much as they are remote, his performances throughout the campaign so far can only mean that the title has to be the next target for Suzuki.

At the end of 2018 the company created a race division - on the face of it an administrative and organisational decision, but one that reinforced its commitment to the MotoGP project.

The last time Suzuki won more than one race in a season was in 2000, when Kenny Roberts Jr won his first and only title. It was also the fifth, and so far the last, for a factory that had experienced glory in each of the previous three decades: with Barry Sheene in 1976 and '77, Marco Lucchinelli in 1981, Franco Uncini in '82, and Kevin Schwantz in 1993.

The situation right now, however, is completely different to what happened back then. Roberts's four 2000 victories (at Motegi, Catalunya, Jerez and Sepang) were enough to win the championship in a season that featured almost as many wet races as dry.

Five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan had already retired, Valentino Rossi was in his rookie 500cc season and the physical issues that eventually forced Alex Criville into retirement were starting to plague the defending champion.

"The world championship in 2000 was nothing like what we have now," Criville, who had become Spain's first ever premier class world champion in 1999, explains to Autosport. "Kenny's bike had great traction in the wet and he was a specialist in those conditions.

"The situation now is very different because Suzuki have built the most balanced bike on the grid. The problem they have is not that they are competing against another machine but that they are competing against Marquez.

"I can see that the Honda has had some set-up problems recently, it is a very nervous bike. This is being reflected in the way Marc is having to struggle at certain tracks, despite still being the best rider out there."

Between Roberts splashing his way to the title in 2000 and the most recent victories for Rins in America and Great Britain in '19, Suzuki was represented on the top step of the podium on just three occasions: by Sete Gibernau at Valencia in '01, Chris Vermeulen at Le Mans in '07, and Maverick Vinales at Silverstone in '16 - a season and a half into the factory's return to the championship, Suzuki having temporarily departed in 2012 for financial reasons.

"Signing another rider has not even entered our heads. We have to be creative if we want to fight with our rivals" Davide Brivio

"Suzuki have always been good at getting the best out of their resources," Suzuki legend Kevin Schwantz explains to Autosport.

"Let's say that they are more efficient with what they have than the others, although this means that certain processes get held up more.

"I remember in my day when we asked for a new part, it could take four races for it to come, while Honda could have one ready for the following week.

"Maybe they need a satellite team to help them make that definitive step, but for that to work Suzuki would have to control it and get something out of it. I'm sure that when they decide to organise that, it would bring a lot of positives."

Asked about the possibility of a Suzuki satellite team in 2021, team manager Davide Brivio is unsure of exactly how to answer.

"It would help accelerate the development of the bike, that much I am optimistic about," Brivio concedes, carefully.

With this in mind, it's worth noting the development benefits that have already been brought on by the creation of an official test team, with 2014 World Superbike champion Sylvain Guintoli as the rider.

The philosophy at Suzuki is completely different to Yamaha and Honda, the two other Japanese manufacturers currently in the championship, and also Ducati - in terms of investment strategy, operational matters and rider management.

Brivio's focus is on signing young riders such as Vinales, Rins and Joan Mir, and developing their talent.

The rider market has changed a lot since Ducati blew it open in 2017 to secure the signature of three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, shelling out €25million over a two-year contract.

Since releasing Lorenzo last summer, Ducati has been tightening the purse strings, paying out around €6m to Dovizioso as its lead rider and renewing with Petrucci a few months ago for under €700,000.

Brivio will have to dig a little deeper into the coffers now if he wants to keep Rins on a Suzuki beyond 2020

One thing Brivio leaves in no doubt is that Suzuki will not go down the route taken by Honda, Yamaha or Ducati, and try to change its fortunes by making a big-money rider signing - as Ducati did with Lorenzo, and as whoever tries to prise Marquez from Honda will ultimately have to.

"Signing another rider has not even entered our heads," adds Brivio. "We have to be creative if we want to fight with our rivals.

"We have a great team of engineers in Japan, who are very efficient and have come up with a motorcycle that I think is very well balanced. An in-line four-cylinder engine needs a very particular kind of chassis and it is delivering a very interesting level of performance."

Right now it's a decent estimate to suggest Rins is earning four times less than Marquez at HRC - depending on results.

Clearly, Brivio will have to dig a little deeper into the coffers now if he wants to keep Rins on a Suzuki beyond 2020, while also crossing his fingers that the competition doesn't come up with a more attractive alternative.

The juiciest carrot Suzuki can dangle in the face of Rins is the competitiveness of the GSX-RR, which has a long queue of riders waiting to taste it for themselves.

"I think we have everything in place to fight for the title with Alex," Brivio emphasises.

"He has won two races - the same as Dovizioso - and if it weren't for the crashes at Assen and Sachsenring, when he was running at the front, he would be second in the championship right now.

"Rins is our hope, and at the same time we want Joan to continue to develop."

Snatching a dramatic last-gasp win from Marquez when the champion is already slightly in points lead protection mode is one thing. Beating him to a championship will be a much taller order.

But the fact it was Rins who was there to pounce at Silverstone suggests that maybe Suzuki's philosophy of creative thinking, nurturing - and having patience with - young talent, and designing a well-balanced, confidence-inspiring chassis might just work where its higher-profile rivals' approaches keep failing.