Suzuki tired with Dunlop

Suzuki’s four-stroke GP team will run Michelin tyres at this weekend’s Spanish GP in Jerez having ended a short but disastrous spell with Dunlop.

An official announcement is not expected for another two days, but Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki duo Kenny Roberts and Sete Gibernau will definitely be on Michelin when the European season kicks off on Sunday.

The news that Suzuki bosses in Japan have finally bowed to constant demands from 2000 world 500 champion Roberts and his Spanish team-mate Gibernau will be a massive relief to the riders.

They haven’t scored a point between them in the opening two races of the season and the last round in South Africa was a woeful experience for the duo. Gibernau had to pit because his rear tyre had deteriorated so badly and Roberts was spared the inevitable tyre troubles when a seized steering damper forced him out.

They have been piling pressure on factory bosses to switch tyres to help show some of the obvious potential of the new GSV-R.

Michelin initially were reluctant to welcome Suzuki back so soon after being dumped, but when senior management turned up in Welkom earlier this month, both Roberts and Gibernau made personal pleas.

A Suzuki spokesman said: “This decision had an air of inevitability about it. This was a factory decision, just like it was when we switched to Dunlop for the four-stroke project.