Suzuki deny engine crisis

Suzuki has denied it will be the first factory to fall foul of new engine reliability rules in the MotoGP world championship.

Factory boss Paul Denning denied rumours that both Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen were rapidly running out of GSV-R engines because of major reliability issues.

Under rules introduced to save costs from the Brno GP onwards, a rider could only use five engines in the final seven races or face a penalty.

Initially the penalty was a ten-point deduction for the rider involved if he had to use more than the five engines allocated.

But changes confirmed in Estoril last weekend, a rider using more than five engines prior to the last race will now be relegated to the back of the grid and the manufacturer deducted 10-points from its tally in the constructor world championship.

Denning refuted any suggestion that the Japanese factory was struggling with the new engine limit, with rumours that Capirossi was down to his last two GSV-R engines in Estoril.

But Denning told MCN: “Loris had a couple of problems in Misano, but they weren’t terminal engine faults and we’re not in a desperate situation. As of today we’re on the schedule we expected. In an ideal world everybody should finish the race in Valencia with engines that are just about ready to stop.”