English
Italiano
Chapter One: Closure. Thank you and Goodbye #TS24. These are the few words full of meaning that Tatsuki Suzuki wrote on social media to announce his retirement, in a post where images trace through his 20-year-long career. Tatsuki Suzuki also posted a video message on YouTube in which he thanks his fans for the affection and support they've shown over the years, with the hope to see them again on the track in the future, even if in a different way.
These are the rider's words:
"Hi, I'm Tatsu Suzuki, and I wanted to tell you that I'm going to stop racing this year. I've been a rider for twenty years, and this decision was definitely not easy. I made this decision because I couldn't continue racing in a place where I always dreamt of being since I was a child. So I decided to change my goals for the future. There have been so many good times, some more difficult, or even bad times. However, thank you to all the people who remained close to me, and all of you with whom I've shared good times. Without you all, I could never have had these satisfactions. So, I thank you all. See you on the track, maybe, even if in a different way."
Class of '97, Tatsu was born in the prefecture of Chiba in Japan, but he then moved to Europe and has, for some years, been living in Riccione (that's why he jokingly likes to call himself a "Giapporiccionese"). He started pursuing his dream from the tender age of 3 years, on a pit bike, at the urging of his father, who was a great enthusiast. In 2006, Tatsu won the Japanese Pit-bike Championship in all the races and, in the five years that followed, he participated in the Japanese Minimoto Championship, finishing 3rd in the last year. In 2013, while competing in the 125cc Japanese National Championship, he was chosen as a wildcard in the last two races of the Spanish Championship, in which he would then participate again the following season.
In 2015, Tatsu debuted in the Moto3 World Championship on the CIP team's Mahidra, alongside Remy Gardner. He then also competed with this team in the following season. But an important chapter then started in his career in 2017, when he joined the SIC58 Squadra Corse team, on a Honda NSF250R, with Tony Arbolino as his teammate, and won fourth place in Japan as his best result of the season: a result he repeated in Phillip Island the year that followed. 2019 was, instead, Tatsu's breakthrough year, with his first podium, a second place in Jerez, and his first win on the Misano circuit after starting from a pole. 2020 started well for him with an inaugural pole in Qatar, which he then repeated in the next two races, reaching his second victory in the GP of Andalusia the same year, followed by a third place in Misano. That positive season was, however, abruptly interrupted by a bad fall during qualifying in the second weekend in Misano, when he fractured his radius and ulna and was forced to undergo surgery that put him out of action for two stages.
After five years with SIC58 team, Suzuki joined Leopard Racing in 2022, teaming up with Dennis Foggia, and stepping on the podium on three occasions at Mugello, Barcelona, and Austria. The following year, he reached a third victory with the same team in the Argentine GP. In his last season in 2024, he remained in the Moto3 with the Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP team and Dutchman Collin Veijer as his teammate, finishing 14th in the championship.
