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Originally posted by mutedblade:
Dani Pedrosa to make KTM MotoGP wildcard appearance at Austria

Can't wait to see Dani ride the bike he built.

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Reigning MotoGP champion team Suzuki will finally join all its rivals in running a ‘holeshot device’ when the championship resumes after its summer break in Austria this weekend.

Pioneered by Ducati at the end of 2018, the devices lock the suspension to control the rear ride height, meaning power isn’t wasted compressing the fork.

Its first use was on the front suspension to assist with race starts, but Ducati later added a version to its rear suspension that could be used to improve power delivery on corner exits all around the circuits.

The system was steadily copied by the majority of the other factory teams, but Suzuki had not introduced its own until now.

Suzuki revealed the news in its in-house magazine, with the team’s technical manager Ken Kawauchi saying the summer break had created an opportunity to get the upgrade sorted at last.

“Overall we have a very balanced bike, it’s something that we have deliberately strived for throughout the development of the GSX-RR,” he said.

“We know that if you improve one area you might lose in another, so we’ve always tried to make a very well-rounded machine which performs well at most circuits.

“Although we are satisfied with our 2021 bike, there are always improvements to be made, and we believe the introduction of the squatting device will help our riders to progress.

“Being in such a demanding sport means that we are constantly called upon to develop new solutions that suit our machine. The important thing is to keep the momentum; I believe that ‘constant development in the right direction’ is a winning philosophy in such a competitive championship.

“This long break in July allows us to make an in-depth analysis of where we are and implement new solutions that will hopefully be effective for the second half of the season.”

After its shock run to the riders’ title with Joan Mir and also the teams’ championship in 2020, Suzuki has had a low-key title defence so far.

It has yet to win a race in 2021, Mir is 55 points behind leader Fabio Quartararo and sitting fourth in the riders’ championship, the team is fourth in the manufacturers’ and only fifth in the teams’ standings.

Suzuki’s cause has been hampered by a string of errors from Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins that culminated in an injury absence caused when he crashed his bicycle while reading a message on his phone.

But it has also lacked the pace to challenge regular frontrunners Yamaha and Ducati, especially in qualifying – where it was already weak throughout its championship-winning season.

Rins estimated before the break that the absence of the holeshot device was costing Suzuki 0.2-0.3s per lap, while Mir said “We have to work to have the device as soon as possible so that we can start working with the same tools as the others”.

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Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi looks set to announce his retirement from the sport imminently.

An exceptional press conference has been scheduled for this afternoon at the Styrian Grand Prix.

The Petronas Yamaha rider has already said that a decision on his future would be made during MotoGP’s summer break, which ends today at the Red Bull Ring, and the unusual step of announcing an exceptional press conference means that it seems that decision has been made.

While there has been speculation in recent weeks that he will join his own VR46 Ducati team for 2022 instead of stepping down after 26 seasons of grand prix racing, The Race’s sources in the MotoGP paddock believe that the news will instead be a retirement announcement.

That fits with this morning’s late announcement that the exceptional press conference will be hosted not by Rossi’s Petronas Yamaha team or by his own representatives but by series promoter Dorna.

The special addition to the schedule will get underway at 1615 local time (1515 UK time).

Rossi is expected to race a Ferrari in the 2022 World Endurance Championship as well as running his MotoGP team.

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Valentino Rossi “thought deeply” about racing with his own VR46 MotoGP team in 2022 but felt the “risk” was too great for just one season, which helped his retirement decision.
On Thursday ahead of the Styrian Grand Prix, Rossi announced the 2021 season – his 26th grand prix world championship campaign – would be his last having elected to retire at the end of the year.

Over the summer break the possibility for Rossi to race with his own VR46 team on a Ducati in 2022 emerged after it transpired that the Aramco title sponsorship of the outfit did not exist – and therefore Rossi would need to pilot one of the Desmosedicis in order to secure backing for the team.

While uncertainty still surrounds the Aramco/VR46 deal, Rossi ultimately decided to call time on his racing career.

He feels the VR46 Ducati project is a good option, but believes he needs a couple of seasons at least to adapt to the Ducati – having famously struggled in 2011-2012 with the Italian marque – and felt “there is more risk” in the move if it was just for one season.

“I have an offer also from my team for next year,” Rossi said.

“An official offer! I think deeply to continue because I would have liked to have raced for my team and have my bikes in Tavullia with the team there.

“I think that we have a great Moto3 and Moto2 team there with a lot of people that I have known there for a long time.

“For example, I have some mechanics that have worked with me on the 250cc so in 1998 and 1999.

“So, it would have been fascinating to race with my team but at the end I decided not to for some different reasons; I would have had to change bike, I think that it was a good project if you have two or three years but if you have just one season maybe there is more risk than the good things.

“So that is why I decided not to.”

Rossi admits he is “not happy” to be retiring from MotoGP given his passion for motorcycle racing, but feels he was ready for the decision now.

“Two years ago and also last year I was not ready to stop with MotoGP because I had to understand and try everything, but now I am OK, I am quiet,” he added.

“I am not happy for sure but if I make another year, next year, I would not be happy in the same moment because I want to race for another 20 years!

“I think this is the right moment.

“We have another half of a season where I will try to be stronger than in the first half and I will try to give my best but I think it is the right choice.”