Bench Racing Ammo: Suzuki's Lites Glory Days
Friday, March 23, 2012 | 11:30 AM
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PrintBlake Wharton's win last weekend in Indianapolis served as the first for his Rockstar Suzuki team. Could it perhaps signal a return to Suzuki's past glory in the Lites/125 class?
Surely, the folks in yellow hope so, as there was once a time when Suzuki was the strongest player in that division. However, it seems as though Suzuki's more recent run of success in the big-bike class (starting with Ricky Carmichael in 2005, and continuing through Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey) has coincided with a drop off in Lites performance. Check it out.
Suzuki Lites SX Championships:
1987
Ron Tichenor East Suzuki
Willie Surratt West Suzuki
1988
Todd DeHoop East Suzuki
1990
Denny Stephenson East Suzuki
1992
Brian Swink East Suzuki
1994
Ezra Lusk East Suzuki
Damon Huffman West Suzuki
1995
Damon Huffman West Suzuki
1997
Tim Ferry East Suzuki
2001
Travis Pastrana East Suzuki
2003
Brandon Jesseman East Suzuki
2009
Ryan Dungey West Suzuki
Ezra Lusk on his RM125.
Paul Buckley photo
With the chart above, you can see that from 1987 through 1997, Suzuki won nine 125 Regional SX Titles in 11 years, giving them nearly half of the 22 titles available in that time. But from that time on, things have been much leaner, with just three championships in the next 14 years.
On the other end, the team's 125 success from the mid eighties through the nineties coincided with a lean time in the big bike class--from '87 through 1996, Suzuki notched just two 250 SX class victories. Under Roger DeCoster's guidance (RD took Suzuki team manager duties in 1995) the big bike wins started to return (three wins in 1997, a win each year in 1998 and 1999, and then, eventually, big success with Carmichael) but it seems like the Lites focus waned along with it.
Travis Pastrana's style still looks awesome.
Paul Buckley photo
Today, Suzuki is in a rebuilding mode. It restructured its program for 2012, moving more pieces of the 450 squad under the Yoshimura banner, while the Rockstar team took over the Lites program last year. The question now is, in which division will they find success again first?
Ryan Dungey scored the Lites West SX Title in 2010.
Simon Cudby photo
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I thought maybe ken Roczen was going to do it for Suzuki before KTM grabbed him and his whoop speed.
I thought Jimmy Button had gotten 1 of those championships for zook back in the early 90s. Was a long time ago tho so easy to forget. I guess he was beat out by lusk.
Tichenor and Turpin battling for the '87 125 East SX title was awesome...saw them at the Pontiac SX class that year.....with their factory RM125s, Fox gear....very cool.
What Suzuki needs some fast amateur riders that won't get hurt midway through their rookie year and can produce decent results when they turn pro. That, and they should set up a feeder program like Geico Honda has. I mean, look at Tomac: he was a Suzuki rider for the longest time, then he signed with Honda a year before he went pro. If Suzuki can provide an equivalent team in that sense, then I think they can succeed.
Hey Jason nice article but I would have also included Mark Barnet in that even though he was on a 125, the guy won I think 1980-1982 125 class, he was unstoppable!
Yeah Jason, wasn't the late and great Donnie Schmit right in there too?
Didnt Davi Millsaps win the East Coast title on Suzuki.. I wonder why they didnt list it here?? Davi Millsaps rode for Decoster too.. I'm thinking 2006, and Millsaps was 18 years old then..
Jonesymx29 had a great point. As his weegeness stated in the article, Suzuki is in rebuilding mode. Suzuki has not been thinking long-term for some time which, most recently cost them DeCoster, then Roczen, then Dungey. How short sighted can a company be? I know times are tough but, they gave away the cow for some beans that weren't even magic. I would've cut EVERYTHING else to keep RD, RD & KR but, that's just me.
Suzuki had better get with a feeder program like the rest of the big five or they will always lose talent to the more established, structured teams just like they lost Tomac to GEICO, duh.
All that aside, there were some great years there. The Huffman / Lusk years were especially exciting for me as, they looked primed to put a hurting on McGrath. The Brian Swink experiment was a bust, he should've stayed on a Honda.
Everyone can see that Suzuki's interest in all forms of racing is dying off. The bean counters are the ones who ultimately decide what gets funding, and professional racing is basically just expensive advertising when you get right down to it. Most manufacturers are probably going to cut back on their racing departments in the near future. Energy drinks are keeping most teams afloat at the moment, but that isn't going to last forever.
I'm pretty sure Schmit was on Kawasaki when he won his 125 SX titles.
Rockstar has a pretty big amateur team also, at least they did as of last year. I'm not sure who is on it now. Jeremy Martin had been with them for a while, but has a Yamaha now (he hasn't even turned pro yet and he's already switched teams).
I think this article was just about SX, which is why no mention of Barnett. He was a 125 rider outdoors the year he won the SX championship though. That should count for something.
When I was racing I loved Suzikis-. Great night at the BAR.
@MX40- i truly agree with you there buddy. and what happens when the energy drink companies sales do a bit of a nosedive because of people not buying as much of it. the future will be interesting to see in next 3-6 years.
1-- Bobby Moore's 85 west coast title should be on here.
2-- Schmits 86 west title was on Kaw,87 he was on Team Suzuki in 250 SX.
3-- Button won races on Suzuki but no title.
4-- This article is about 125/lites SX not MX thats why Barnett isnt on here.
5-- Swink wasnt a complete bust for Suzuki he did win the 92 east title for them.
6-- Millsaps 06 east title was on Honda after being on Team Suzuki in 04 & 05.
they forgot broc "hamburger" hepler
Guy Cooper left the power house Honda team to join Suzuki in1990, he won them the Outdoor 125cc tilte, but indoors the best he could muster was a couple of 2nd place finishes...he did however bring alot of fans to Suzuki..and was great for the marketing side of business...Guy "Air Time" Cooper