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Team Classic Suzuki announces Webb and Fagan to race GSX-R1000 at Paul Ricard

Team Classic Suzuki will field Danny Webb and Alastair Fagan at this weekend’s opening round of the European Endurance Cup.

The duo will race the team’s new GSX-R1000 K1 in a four-hour endurance race around the famous Paul Ricard circuit.

Webb boasts a long history with Team Classic Suzuki, and has raced both XR69 and RG500 machinery for the outfit at the Classic TT on the Isle of Man. He’s also no stranger to endurance racing – with much EWC experience – or classic endurance racing – having raced for Team Classic Lincs Suzuki around Spa Francorchamps on a GSX-R750.

His teammate for the weekend will be experienced former British Superbike racer Alastair Fagan, standing in for an injured Bob Collins, who was set to make his debut for the team before suffering an injury at Castle Combe.

Fagan, too, is no stranger to Team Classic Suzuki, having ridden the team’s Katana at a previous event.

Danny Webb said, “I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It’s going to be quite an experience riding a GSX-R1000 K1 around the incredible Paul Ricard circuit. The team’s done another awesome job in preparing the bike and it really does look mint as well. We’ve got a good team around us, and the aim is to get a good setting in the bike on Friday ahead of the race. Of course, the goal is to win if we can and I think we’re in with a shout, but this is endurance racing and we all know that anything can happen.”

Alastair Fagan said, “I’m obviously gutted for my mate Bob but, at the same time, I’m honoured to have had the call to replace him on the Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R1000. When you get a call for this gig you don’t say no. I’ve never raced at Paul Ricard but I know the team and I know the bike will be more than up for the job, and I’ll be doing everything I can to help the team get a result.”

Team manager Nathan Colombi added, “I think we’ve got a strong lineup for this weekend’s event. Obviously we know Danny very well, he’s done a lot with us before, his CV speaks for itself, and he’s got a lot of experience. Alastair is joining us a bit last minute, as he’ll be deputising for an injured Bob Collins, but again, we’ve worked together before, he’s a fast, reliable, safe pair of hands with lots of experience on a range of bikes. It’s obviously the first proper outing for the bike so we’ll have a bit of work to get through in practice, but I don’t think we’ll be miles away in terms of setup. There are a lot of good, professional teams in this championship and a lot of fast riders, but hopefully we can have a good race, manage our pit stops well, and come away with a strong result.”

For more information on the team’s GSX-R1000 K1, click here. Follow the team on Facebook, here.

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Team Classic Suzuki reveals GSX-R1000 K1 racer

Team Classic Suzuki has revealed its latest race bike build; a first generation GSX-R1000 built to contest European Endurance Cup rounds, the series the team first entered with its Katana in 2017.

Despite enjoying success with the Katana – including a class win for John Reynolds and Pete Boast at Oschersleben in 2018 – recent rule changes have opened the class up to the first GSX-R1000 K1.

The Team Classic Suzuki machine is dressed in the immediately recognisable livery that is already donned by a number of other race bikes in the team’s stable. Underneath, a freshly-rebuilt GSX-R1000 engine gets a performance boost from a set of Yoshimura cams, which is allowed to breathe more freely thanks to a full titanium Yoshimura exhaust system.

The standard frame is mated to a swingarm from a factory GSX-R750 endurance racer, wheels are from OZ, the rear shock is from K-Tech, while K-Tech internals sit inside a set of Team Classic Suzuki in-house forks. Stopping power comes from Brembo.

Team Classic Suzuki’s Nathan Colombi said, “We enjoyed racing the Katana at a number of endurance events in Europe, and also at the Classic TT, however, once the rules opened up to allow GSX-Rs in, we had to get involved and build our own. To be honest it came together quite quickly and we’re still finalising our plans for the season, but it’s great – if a bit terrifying that so much time has passed – that GSX-R1000s can go classic racing now.

“We’ve obviously used a lot of performance parts in the build, but we’ve been able to use Suzuki’s Race Parts Programme when we’ve needed genuine components, which will be of use for anyone else racing a GSX-R in this series, club racing, or at national level.”

Team Classic Suzuki will confirm its racing plans for the season in due course.

For information on Suzuki’s Race Parts Programme, click here.

Industry News, Latest News, Manufacturers, Suzuki

Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R750 SRAD racer revealed

Team Classic Suzuki has pulled the wraps off its latest race bike project: a 1996 GSX-R750 SRAD built for future international classic racing events.

Built around a former factory endurance racer, the Team Classic Suzuki SRAD features a factory dry slipper-clutch, a lightweight generator, a magnesium offset sump, close ratio six-speed gearbox, and a factory Yoshimura exhaust system.

As always, suspension front and rear comes courtesy of the experts at K-Tech and there’s a longer swingarm for more stability. Brembo calipers and brakelines from Earls provide the stopping power, with OZ lightweight wheels shod with Dunlop slicks.

Parts manufactured in-house include the triple clamps, footrests, fork lowers, and carbon kevlar bodywork, while the whole package is held together by high quality, lightweight titanium fasteners from RaceFasteners.

The bike will replace the team’s successful XR69 F1 bikes, which have carried Michael Dunlop to Classic TT glory, at a number of events from 2022.

Raced by the likes of James Whitham and John Reynolds in World Superbikes and Chris Walker in BSB, the GSX-R750 SRAD epitomises 1990s sportsbike-obsessed Britain, in part thanks to its bulbous seat unit and now-iconic silhouette. The ‘Gixxer’ became an incredibly frequent sight at bike meets up and down the country.

The Team Classic Suzuki SRAD livery is inspired by the Lucky Strike-sponsored endurance bike it began life as, a livery more commonly associated with the RGV500s ridden by likes of Kevin Schwantz in Grand Prix.

The bike will get its first shakedown at a two-day test at Cartagena with Michael Dunlop next week.

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For more information on Suzuki Bikes GB visit bikes.suzuki.co.uk/bikes/

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Team Classic Suzuki unveils Katana project build

After a year or more with very limited racing activity, Team Classic Suzuki has unveiled its lockdown project build; a Katana based around a 2008 GSX-R1000 world superbike machine.

History already exists between Team Classic Suzuki and the Katana. After building a racing version at Motorcycle Live, Team Classic Suzuki raced a Katana in the European Classic Endurance Championship, scoring a class win at Oschersleben.

This time, Team Classic Suzuki has turned its hand to a road-going Katana project.

At the heart is a 2008 world superbike-spec engine from an Alstare GSX-R1000, fully refreshed by Team Classic Suzuki’s Nathan Colombi. Putting out around 200bhp at the rear wheel, it breathes through Alstare world superbike headers, mated to a Racefit link pipe and end can. Cooling comes from a factory radiator and oil cooler, with aluminium water and oil pipes. To keep things manageable, electronics comes as a Yoshimura EM Pro kit.

The package is housed in an Alstare world superbike frame, though dimensions are the same as the road-going GSX-R1000 K8. There’s a custom, over-sized swingarm and bespoke subframe from Alpha Performance Fabrications, both designed to facilitate a twin shock setup that pays homage to the original Katana. Suspension comes courtesy of Öhlins.

Dymag CH3 wheels also maintain a classic look, and are the same wheels found in Team Classic Suzuki’s XR69 replica machines. Mounted to them are Brembo discs, with calipers and pads also from the Italian firm. The rear caliper slots discreetly in between the swingarm and wheel for a cleaner look to the rear end. New aluminium rear sets were designed in-house.

Also cleaning up the rear end is slim LED tail light fitted to a seat unit that started life as a Team Classic Suzuki racing item, before being modified to fit the factory world superbike fuel tank. The nose cone is a new, old stock Katana unit, available from Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme, which has been widened by one inch and modified to fit. Moulds from the nose and seat unit were used to create carbon panels that add a finishing touch. Fixtures and fittings come courtesy of Racefastener.

A new seat from Italian supplier Race Seats is finished with a Katana logo, the traditional red Suzuki logo of original Katanas still adorns the tank, while a Team Classic Suzuki logo completes the seat unit, again in the traditional red.

For more Suzuki GB news check out our dedicated page Suzuki GB News

For more information on Suzuki Bikes GB visit bikes.suzuki.co.uk/bikes/

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Industry News, Latest News, Manufacturers, Suzuki

Tour the Team Classic Suzuki workshop

Team Classic Suzuki has released a video tour of its workshop facilities in an effort to bring fans their classic bike fix, in lieu of the regular shows and events that have fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Watch on Facebook here.

Join chief mechanic and resident expert Nathan Colombi for a guided tour around rare RGV250s, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr’s RGV500s, World Superbike GSX-Rs, and Guy Martin’s 2012 GSX-R1000 superbike, plus get a look at the GSX-R750 SRAD being built for competition in 2021 onwards, and a new Katana project build.

Browse the shelves to see the collection of parts amassed over the years, from full-factory carbs and triple clamps to remanufactured footrests and a number of genuine Suzuki components still available on the Vintage Parts Programme, before seeing where the magic happens in the ‘engine room’.