Team Hammer Back with Suzuki

After a two-year run with Honda, Team Hammer is returning to its road racing roots, signing a two-year deal with Suzuki. The squad will field Suzuki GSX-R1000 and GSX-R600 motorcycles in the new MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship.

Team Hammer and Suzuki have a long history going back to1980. Over 32 years the collaboration resulted in hundreds of race wins and many titles, as well as the discovery and early development of dozens of riders who went on to great careers, such as 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

“Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. is thrilled to support Team Hammer’s professional road racing enterprise,” said Tak Hayasaki, President of SMAI, via a team release. “Suzuki and Team Hammer share a passion for road racing competition and a commitment to championship achievements, and we are proud that Suzuki GSX-R sportbikes will again carry Team Hammer racers to success.”
“We’re very happy to be working with Suzuki again,” said Team Hammer Crew Chief Keith Perry. “We’ve won a lot of races and championships with Suzuki GSX-R motorcycles and we look forward to continuing that success in the MotoAmerica series.”

This year will mark Team Hammer’s 35th consecutive season of operating as a professional road racing team. During that time, race bikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 59 AMA Pro National races, have finished on AMA Pro National podiums 136 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, (the most recent in 2012), as well as two FIM South American championships. The team has also won 133 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and won 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won the F-USA Championship four times.

The team release stated that further details regarding the team’s 2015 MotoAmerica plans were to be announced at a later date.

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2014 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Special Edition – First Look

Suzuki chose the Indianapolis Grand Prix as the place to celebrate its first 50 years in the U.S. market and to reveal there a special-edition GSX-R1000.


One hundred GSX-R1000SEs will be produced worldwide, each of which will be distinguished by a brilliantly polished and chromed chassis, unique “candy apple” blue wheel spokes (rims are machined and polished) and engine covers, and blue-anodized upper fork legs and other selected parts. Of this 100, 50 will be made available in the U.S.

In Suzuki’s compound in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield, a large “wall of success” was displayed, commemorating Suzuki’s accomplishments and its presentation in American motorcycle journalism through the decades. Several historic GSX-R racers were shown, as well. In the afternoon, the winner of a Hayabusa custom judging was declared. Hayabusa’s strong and passionate clientele is served by an extensive aftermarket of custom and high-performance accessories challenging that of Harley-Davidson, testifying to the popularity of this “too much is just enough” powerhouse.

Lest anyone forget, the original air/oil-cooled Suzuki GSX-R750, designed by a team under engineer Etsuo Yokouchi, was a revolution in power-to-weight ratio when it was introduced here in 1986. Essentially 100 pounds lighter than other machines in its class, the GSX-R quickly became the enduring backbone of high-performance motorcycling in the U.S.
Why chrome, translucent paint and blue anodizing? Why not special performance features derived from the bike Suzuki will use in its return to MotoGP in 2015? I may be a motorhead, but I understand that few Americans buy a bike for its compression ratio or valve overlap. They buy the look and they buy the rep, both of which this GSX-R has in plenty. Suzuki studies the market and builds to suit.

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