Rockstar Suzuki Drifting along the narrow road outside Mattighofen in Austria the next town a few miles from the KTM factory, Munderfing, is quickly reached and then mighty Red Bull KTM workshop shines like an orange beacon of success. Large, bold images of competition and the marque’s technology leave no mistake that this is the nerve centre of the KTM racing empire. Their competitors like Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are more discreet. The Rinaldi set-up in Langhirano, south of Parma, is so incognito that he dark confines of Yamaha Motor Europe’s motocross hub is only distinguishable by a one inch white plastic label on the gate buzzer. From all these locations there is something clinical and cutting edge about Geboer’s Suzuki domain in Lommel. The buildings lack the character of Rinaldi’s old and open complex, the compact feeling of Kawasaki’s KRT abode in Holland or the brazen confidence of KTM’s new home. Once through the doors however and it is impossible not to be impressed. Lunch could be consumed from the work surfaces—everything has its place even down to the small hills of Rockstar product that line the parking spaces. Sylvain Geboers, former 250c GP winner, manager of brother Eric and custodian of Suzuki’s motocross efforts direct from Japan for over 30 years has built and developed this 2000m2 ‘home’ since 2000 that also boasts several meeting rooms, a dyno area and spares stores, a large scale printing office for graphics, a container floor for flight cases and old bikes (some of Ken Roczen’s RM-Z250s roll back the years already) and even a gym. Geboers’ race team has kept a very Belgian heart since 2004 when Joel Smets was drafted into the squad alongside Kevin Strijbos (the first rider worldwide to give the RM-Z450 a major race success with victory in the 2005 GP of Czech Republic). The best racing teams get the best mx helmets to keep their racers safe from harm. Marketing and PR manager Jo de Munck is the youngest member at 35. The demographic is a bit ‘greener’ but no less hardworking and keen over in the MX2 complex where Geboers has taken on the RM-Z250 mantle of control for 2014 after previously injecting the Suzuki International Europe project with technical input since the mid noughties. In the space of 14 years GRP has become an installation that screams ‘competitiveness’ and the operation clearly achieves an effect. Growing, Engine Notes and Hurdling Bumps… “2000 was the time of the two-stroke,” Geboers recounts. “For the motocross team we had one mechanic per rider and one engine guy and myself and then suspension by Technical Touch. In total six people. Then we stepped into four-stroke and it was clear that it demanded more manpower. From there we needed an extra person doing the electronics and another one for cleaning and maintenance. Later on we started with the MX2 project and we reached 15 people just for the motocross team.” Expansion included a hospitality truck and more vehicles—a fleet that now encompasses a total of four sprinter vans used for testing and transportation. As well as space and means to store the MX2 race truck. It has become a big moving cog. “It was a lot to organize and think about and I was very lucky that we set everything up before the financial crisis really hit,” Geboers adds. “Another thing is that we were able to have good sponsors over those years. The crisis meant that some sponsor deals went away but again we were fortunate that we had just started working with Rockstar. The support from Suzuki has always been strong. Really, I don’t know how other teams—not factory ones that are supported like we are—can survive through this time and the way our sport is handled. “We have always looked at the sport positively and approached it constructively as well,” he continues. “We never did crazy things and I always invested our profits in the team again and that’s the way that we became what we are. We are still focused in the same way today. We believe in the sport and we still invest! It is hard to look forward and think about what is going to happen five years from now; I really don’t know. The motorcycle business is picking up a little bit in some places but it is still far away from what it has been. We still hope that the rest of the world, outside of Europe, can discover motorcycling more and that sales can pick up again.” The Second Building: Testing Plans, MX2 and Ken Roczen GRP have very rarely entered a third bike in Grand Prix. Even in the 250cc days and the RM250 they always focused on two riders. When the company initiated Suzuki’s MX2 programme through the middle of the last decade t was a European-based scheme—although with blessing from Japan—but was born from frustration with another project and timing for the imminent arrival of a very special Suzuki rider indeed. Only a year after extra provisions were made for the arrival of the 450 four-stroke, GRP were inflating again. Geboers explains how and why the facility doubled in size and scope. “About five years ago I sold Technical Touch and made a deal for it. I had already extended the facilities here by 500m2 and constructed the second building. I wanted that as an off-road test centre for Suzuki but it never happened.” “We were at a point where it was very close to move a great deal of Suzuki’s testing work here and the decision-makers at SMC (Suzuki Motor Company, essentially Suzuki Japan) and it all changed. I know that testing in California is well established—they have good facilities, great weather and good race tracks…but these are good conditions and you also need to test in the worst. I think with both sets of testing results would become very strong.” The testing centre abandoned there was suddenly the chance to use the space thanks to a jewel unearthed by Suzuki International Europe, Ken Roczen. “It was a decision and an opportunity that came up around Ken Roczen. It all came true but the time he was ready for the ATA then KTM was there.” It seems like such as huge infrastructure and effort to forge just for the benefit of one rider. “Yes but it was backed up by Suzuki Germany, and the financial side too, so it was not a huge risk by GRP,” Geboers offers. The Belgian then had to deal with Roczen’s decision to move KTM at the end of 2010 after challenging for the title on the RM-Z that season. “It was something I learned to live with and something I learned from my first years with the team,” he explains. “These days doing MX2 is not so easy,” Geboers insists. “KTM has put their hands on all the young riders through their European organization and dealers and importers to place small but attractive deals on the tables for long durations. It puts Japanese manufacturers in a difficult situation. That together with the age limit placed by the FIM makes it very hard for us to be successful. You just cannot be active—you need to be successful and if you know that you cannot be successful then I don’t think you should be racing. For the near future we have to look and see what is possible. If we cannot make it work then I won’t support it.”
Related Articles -
motorcycle, custom motorcycle, motorcyles,
| 
