BMW acquires Suzuki’s GSX-RR MotoGP data – next step for 2027?

MotoGP

Latest paddock news suggests that BMW is taking the next step towards creating a MotoGP project by buying Suzuki’s GSX-RR data to accelerate the design and engineering process

BMW WSBK

BMW celebrates another Razgatlıoğlu WSBK victory. BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch is sixth on Razgatlıoğlu’s left, wearing a T-shirt

BMW

Mat Oxley

Insider news from the Silverstone MotoGP paddock gives us the best indication yet that BMW is planning to enter the premier class in the next few seasons, most likely in 2027, when the championship undergoes a major technical shake-up.

It is understood that the German manufacturer has negotiated a deal with Suzuki – which won the 2020 MotoGP world title and later stunned the paddock by quitting the series at the end 2022 – to buy all its data from its last few seasons in the championship.

BMW is rumoured to be paying €18m for data acquired from Suzuki’s GSX-RR inline-four MotoGP bikes, ridden during its last few seasons by Spanish pairing Joan Mir and Alex Rins.

Either this is proof that BMW will be on the grid, or it’s BMW undertaking some kind of detailed feasibility study, before making the commitment to contest MotoGP for the first time since the 1950s, when Walter Zeller rode a flat-twin RS500 to second place in the 1956 MotoGP championship, behind John Surtees’ MV Agusta.

Data is everything in modern motor sport, a vital part in every stage of the game, from design and development, through to weekend preparation and set-up work during MotoGP practice.

Although Suzuki’s last data download was the 2022 season-ending Valencia GP, which Rins won, MotoGP hasn’t changed a great deal since then. Lots of detail changes, of course, and the biggest change has been Michelin’s super-grippy 2024 rear slick and improved front slick.

Importing a large amount of data from a winning motorcycle will create a huge shortcut for BMW engineers who will be able to learn a great deal about what they’ll need to compete in MotoGP. And even if the data is two years old, starting the project with a large amount of the purest information from a strong team that used a strong motorcycle is a thousand times better than starting from absolute zero.

Suzuki 2018

Suzuki engineers analysing data from the 2018 GSX-RR – this data could be vital to BMW’s MotoGP plans

And if €18m sounds a lot for a load of zeroes and ones, this information will most likely save BMW much more in the early stages of development.

Engine configuration is always the starting point for any racing project, because it decides the architecture of the entire motorcycle. BMW’s Suzuki deal therefore points towards the Munich-based company choosing an inline-four engine for its MotoGP bike.

First, this makes sense from a marketing perspective. All BMW’s high-performance motorcycles use inline-four engines, so the marketing link between race and road is established. Second, although Yamaha is having a horrible time with the only inline-four currently in MotoGP, the rules change from 1000cc engines to 850s may help inline-fours.

Related article

The 850s will be slightly lighter, with smaller engines, and they will have significantly less torque, which could change the way they need to be ridden, just as the 800s needed to be ridden differently to the original 990cc MotoGP four-strokes.

Less weight and less torque should encourage higher corner speeds, because riders can’t rely on the monster torque of the 990s and 1000s to fire them out of turns. That may suit the finer handling inline-fours, which prefer rounder cornering lines, while the 990s and 1000s are at their best using tighter vee-shaped lines.

BMW engineers know lots about building high-powered racing engines, so they should be able to build a light, compact and powerful MotoGP engine. However, they will need to take note of Suzuki’s data and work with established MotoGP engineers who understand that the character required from a racing motorcycle engine is very different to that of a car engine.

And it’s so easy to get wrong, for what might seem a trivial reason to a car-engine designer. Consider the GSX-RR, which lost its way in 2017, when Suzuki engineers used a higher-mass crankshaft, in search of friendlier on-throttle corner-exit behaviour. Instead, the increased crank inertia made the bike difficult to stop and difficult to turn, costing riders around three tenths a lap, so the GSX-RR didn’t score a single podium that year.

BMW

BMW’s Razgatlıoğlu has won 12 of 2024’s first 18 WSBK races and will surely be a candidate for the company’s first MotoGP line-up

Next comes chassis design. BMW hasn’t contested MotoGP for seven decades, so it knows nothing of what’s needed, aside from what it’s learned from a decade and a half in World Superbike, which is a very different world to MotoGP.

Most of all, BMW needs to learn about chassis stiffness – combining massive longitudinal rigidity, for braking and acceleration stability, with plenty of lateral flex, so the bike flexes when it’s on its side in corners, making the bike track the asphalt better for improved grip and turning. Suzuki’s data will be a huge help here, because the GSX-RR was the sweetest handling bike on the grid.

BMW’s WSBK project has made huge forward strides with its electronics knowhow in recent seasons. During its early years in the championship many of the company’s electronics engineers came from car racing, so although the budget was big, the concepts and strategies were all wrong for motorcycles.

BMW won’t learn a lot about downforce aerodynamics from Suzuki’s data, because the GSX-RR had the most minimal aero on the grid, relying instead on superb chassis balance and friendly torque delivery to win races. However, Suzuki’s CFD (computational fluid dynamics) data will still help BMW engineers, who already have experience of downforce aero from the M1000RR WSBK machine. And anyway, all MotoGP manufacturers have a major aero redesign ahead of them, because downforce aero will be substantially reduced from 2027.

The other vital performance factor that won’t be included in the data will be the rider. BMW used to be guilty of not spending enough budget on the most important aspect of bike racing, but Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s arrival will surely have convinced the company that bike racing is still so much about the nut that holds the handlebars than the nut that holds the steering wheel.

BMW 2

BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch (right) with Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and 2019 BMW M award winner Marc Marquez

The M1000RR scored only one victory during the 2021, 2022, 2023 WSBK season. So far this year, with Razgatlıoğlu onboard, the bike has taken 12 wins from the first 18 races. Whatever BMW is paying Razgatlıoğlu, he’s worth it and has totally transformed its WSBK project.

What we don’t know about the data deal is whether it includes computer modelling, which plays a massive part in achieving good performance. For example, this is one area where Ducati is way ahead of its rivals and this is one of the reasons why the Bologna brand is more dominant than ever in MotoGP.

A computer model of a racing motorcycle – sometimes called a virtual digital twin – is created by using data via mathematical models, computer simulations and physical experiments.

These computer models consist of multiple models: the engine and parts thereof, the suspension and parts thereof, the aerodynamics, the tyres and so on. These digital twins are run on computer models of racetracks, which consist of 3D scans of circuits, which include everything from layout to camber, right down to weather conditions.

The main requirement for creating useful computer models is the quantity of data. The more data engineers have the better they can see the reality, separate useful information from outliers and build better models. This is one reason why Yamaha absolutely had to increase its MotoGP presence to four bikes from next year, because it doesn’t get enough data from two bikes for accurate modelling.

So how many bikes will BMW put on the MotoGP grid? For many years Dorna has wanted 24 bikes – and no more than that – with six manufacturers fielding four bikes each. Since Suzuki withdrew there have only been 22 bikes and last year Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta announced that he wanted to keep the grid at that number. However, BMW bosses would be foolish not to demand four grid slots as a condition of their entry, which would take the grid back to 24 bikes and require one independent team to run BMWs.

BMW MotoGP

BMW’s last MotoGP bike – the RS500 flat twin of the 1950s

BMW

Dorna has long been desperate to get BMW into MotoGP, so it will surely bend to the company’s demands, because an upmarket brand like BMW will bring extra glitter to the paddock, which is exactly what Dorna – and probably Liberty from next year – want in MotoGP.

During the Silverstone weekend I made discrete enquiries with a number of MotoGP engineers from different manufacturers, asking them if BMW has been making contact with engineering staff who might lead its MotoGP project.

The answer was always, ‘No,’ which did surprise me, because if BMW MotoGP is going to happen the company will need to start signing experienced engineering staff very soon. It’s only two years and three months before official testing for the 2027 season commences, which isn’t long when the motorcycle needs to be designed, engineered and exhaustively tested before sharing the track with its rivals following the end of the 2026 season.

Related article

Can Toprak Razgatlıoğlu be MotoGP king?
MotoGP

Can Toprak Razgatlıoğlu be MotoGP king?

The reigning World Superbike champion may switch to MotoGP next year or the year after, but will his technique work with GP bikes and tyres?

By Mat Oxley

In other words, BMW needs to start signing engineers very soon. Its race department will need an entire group of talented engineers taken from MotoGP’s fastest manufacturers – Ducati, Aprilia and KTM – which could trigger a major salary war in the paddock.

Finally, the obvious question: why should BMW enter the white heat of MotoGP when it’s doing so well in WSBK? Because WSBK is a lower-level championship which gets very little coverage beyond the world of motorcycling.

BMW hasn’t contested Formula 1 since 2009, so MotoGP would be a good way – and a relatively cheap way – of returning to top-level motor sport. And since BMW started selling a range of M model motorcycles in 2021 (the M100RR, M1000R and M1000XR), which use the same premium M badging used on high-end BMW cars for decades, ultimate performance has become a bigger consideration for the company.

Current BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch, who took over at the end of last year, was previously in charge of BMW’s M performance car division, where he talked of the company’s “oath of success as the dominant high-performance brand”.

We await the next stage of what could be a huge boost for MotoGP…

You may also like