What’s the attraction of Rizla Suzuki?
Valentine: They fit my idea of a professional racing team. They have a long-term strategy and the budget to achieve their goals. They want to win. MCN: You’ve been around British Superbikes long enough to see what goes on. Why haven’t they been winning? Valentine: I don’t think they’ve ever recovered from John Reynolds being injured. That hit them hard. Simon (Buckmaster) has turned things around and the team is almost back to where it was. I hope to build on what he’s achieved this year. MCN: What’s the secret to a title-winning team? Valentine: That’s hard to quantify. I’m hoping to find a good bunch of guys who want to win races – guys who are willing to work together with the same objectives. When I worked with Foggy, the team knew we didn’t have the machinery to win races but we approached each race as if we were going to win the title. MCN: But can the Suzuki GSX-R1000 win races? Valentine: It does in AMA competition, and in WSB. There’s no reason why it can’t win in BSB. MCN: Te
