We’ve wanted to do this piece for The List for a while now, but we didn’t want it to make it look like we were kicking Suzuki while it was down. Oh wait, was that a kick start joke? Sheesh! For real, though, Suzuki’s racing fortunes are back on the rise thanks to the familiar Ken Roczen, who is in his third stint with the brand. Ken was once a hotshot phenom on a Suzuki, but now both he and the brand have reunited with each other in a time of need, and there’s no doubt his move to Progressive/Ecstar HEP Suzuki has extended his career. He also brought the RM-Z back to the top of the podium for the first time since…well since Roczen himself won races on an RM-Z back in 2016!
Ken is locked and loaded for more with Suzuki in 2024. So, since this isn’t as tragic a story as it once was, we can roll out The List: The Suzukis.
Have a look at how many of today’s big stars got their start on yellow bikes.
Eli Tomac:
In the mid-2000s Suzuki was absolutely crushing the game, both in the pro ranks with riders like Ricky Carmichael, but also continued its long legacy of grooming amateur talent. By 2003 Suzuki had this Eli Tomac kid—son of mountain bike legend John Tomac—on its bikes. Eli was pretty good, as you would imagine! He raced for Suzuki from 2003-2008 before moving to the Factory Connection (GEICO) Honda team, which was arguably the premier amateur-to-pro squad at that time.
Jason Anderson:
We often reference how Jason Anderson, of New Mexico, and Tomac, of neighboring Colorado, have been battling each other since they were kids. Well, for a while they were also teammates in the Suzuki amateur program! Anderson is three months younger than Tomac, but they’re on opposite sides of the AMA’s “January 1” rule, which declares your age on January 1 can be designated as your racing age for the rest of the year. This means, for example, if you’re 15 on January 1 and turn 16 on January 2, you can race a 12-15 class all season. So, Anderson and Tomac didn’t always lock horns at Loretta’s, but they did sometimes, like in 2006 when they went 1-2 in the 85cc (12-13) modified class. Tomac’s 2-1-2 edged Anderson’s 1-2-3 for the title.
(As we continue down this rabbit hole, it’s fun to note that both Tomac and Anderson were usually chasing a Honda guy at these races, and his name was Justin Barcia. He’s eight months older than Tomac and 11 months older than Anderson. Hmmm, you think Anderson and Tomac are familiar with this Barcia guy?)
Where were we? Yes, Anderson on Suzuki. By 2007 Suzuki’s amateur program was running into trouble and the big support dollars weren’t flowing like they had previously. Anderson ended up going to KTM. Then that program fizzled and he ended up with Kawasaki Team Green for his final year as an amateur. Anderson then actually reunited with Suzuki with the Rockstar Suzuki program, which later moved to KTM and then Husqvarna. Then he rejoined Kawasaki, just a quick 12 years after he raced for the brand as an amateur. Just the way they planned it, I’m sure!
Ken Roczen:
You already know Roczen was a Suzuki kid, because A) we gave it away at the top of this story and B) he was super high profile in his stints with the brand. From winning a GP on a Suzuki at age 15 (before leaving for Red Bull KTM) to leaving KTM to go back on a Suzuki with the Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s RCH squad, to today’s run as “Kickstart Kenny” with Progressive/Ectsar, Ken is pretty synonymous with the brand.
Here’s something interesting: In 2016, Suzuki had Ken Roczen and James Stewart racing for the brand, and Ricky Carmichael and Travis Pastrana still running around doing ambassador work and more (Carmichael was co-owner of the team Roczen was riding for). Kenny, Stew, RC, and Travis. That’s a lot of star power!
Jeffrey Herlings:
More star power, but this one you might not have known! Jeffrey Herlings, like Roczen, was a Suzuki kid before he went to Red Bull KTM. Check out this awesome video of a very young “84” on an RM. We’d like to tell you more about this, but it’s all Dutch, bro.
Oh, and we even found him trying an RM-Z250!
Jett Lawrence:
Oh, now it’s really starting to sting. Suzuki once had Jett and Hunter Lawrence in the fold. While the boys were racing in MXGP and EMX in Europe in 2017, Hunter signed a GEICO Honda deal to come to America, but not until 2019. He thus switched to the 114 Motorsports Honda squad for 2018 to complete his final year in the GPs, but Jett actually stayed on Suzuki for that final 2018 season in Europe. Jett famously went 1-1 on the gnarly Assen track at the EMX finale in September. By 2019, the boys were both in America and both on the GEICO Honda team. You know how that turned out.
Hunter Lawrence:
We already know the Everts family to be Gods amongst men when it comes to motocross, but beyond World Championships for father Harry and son Stefan, we must also give some credit for breaking the Lawrence brothers into the scene. Harry and Stefan ran Suzuki’s GP operations at the time, and wow are there a lot of interesting what-ifs stored inside this team announcement for the 2017 season. https://adbmag.com.au/editorial/hunter-lawrence-signs-team-suzuki-world/
“For Jett and I it’s quite something to have stood out enough for Harry and Stefan; we’re talking 15 world titles between them so there is quite something to be learned there,” said Hunter at the time in this ADB Magazine (Australia) story.
“We are very honoured to sign Hunter Lawrence,” said Stefan Everts in the story. “We had a great opportunity to work together and thinking about the future and what I have seen of Hunter so far, he will fit in perfectly to our programme. After one-or-two years I feel that he can be a really strong contender in the world championship. He was really strong in his first races in the European Championship and he adapted very fast to Euro tracks. So I’m very pleased to have this kid on-board and also his brother [Jett].”
No doubt the boys learned plenty at the hands of a master like Stefan, the King of Motocross in Europe. They also spent time training and living with Roczen’s dad, Heikko. Pretty good teachers, eh?
Hunter probably wasn’t on the radar of most Americans until late that season, when he scored a podium at the USGP at WW Ranch in Florida, then won the MX2 overall at the Motocross of Nations over Zach Osborne at Matterley Basin in England. He was already in talks with the GEICO Honda team before that, though, and then announced he would move to Honda starting in 2018. Anyway, Hunter and Jett were Suzuki kids for a bit.
Liam Everts
Well, this one you had to see coming. Liam, Stefan’s son and Harry’s grandson, was of course a Suzuki prospect at one point. He’s now part of the Red Bull KTM MX2 squad and finished second in the GP standings in 2023. But while Hunter was on big bikes with the Everts squad for ‘17, Liam and Jett were still on RM85s. Here’s a video announcing both kids. Seeing a young Jettson on the Suzuki is enough to make you cry. Oh what could have been!
Jeremy Seewer was also on that Everts-owned Suzuki team in 2017. Our man Davey Coombs really drove the point home with this factoid about how all these kids all turned out by 2023:
“Okay, on the weekend of June 10-11, 2023, Jett won the 450 class at Thunder Valley, Hunter won the 250 class, and Liam won the MX2 MXGP in Germany, and Seewer finished second to Jorge Prado in MXGP.”
Tomac, Anderson, Roczen, Herlings, Jett and Hunter Lawrence, Roczen, Seewer, Everts. That’s quite a lineup of prospects.
Hey, at least Kickstart Kenny is still there to keep the program rolling!
