M2: Marc VDS and Suter Racing extend partnership

MARC VDS AND SUTER RACING AGREE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP

The Marc VDS Racing Team and Suter Racing have reached an agreement that will extend into 2011 their successful partnership, forged this year in the ultra-competitive Moto2 World Championship.

This agreement will see the Marc VDS Racing Team play a pivotal role in the ongoing development of the Suter Moto2 machine, which will be campaigned in the 2011 Moto2 World Championship by the team's riders, Scott Redding and Mika Kallio.

"Our relationship with Suter Racing has been key to our success as a team in this, our first season in the Grand Prix paddock," stated Team Manager of the Marc VDS Racing Team, Michael Bartholemy. "The Suter MMX proved to be a competitive package at the start of the season and the ongoing development undertaken by Eskil Suter and his team throughout the year have ensured that it has remained so."

"With Scott Redding and Mika Kallio we have a real opportunity to challenge for the world title in 2011, and this new development partnership with Suter Racing guarantees that we will start the new season with the most competitive package possible."

In addition, the Marc VDS Racing Team will also collaborate with Suter Racing on the development of the Swiss engineering company's MotoGP bike, which was unveiled earlier this year at the Grand Prix of San Marino. Powered by a BMW engine, the Suter MotoGP machine has been designed to take advantage of rule changes for 2012 that will allow teams to contest the MotoGP class with machines based around a 1000cc engine housed in a prototype chassis.

"I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with Suter Racing to extend into 2011 what has already proved to be a very successful partnership," declared Marc van der Straten, President of the Marc VDS Racing Team. "This new agreement will also see the Marc VDS Racing Team play a key part in the ongoing development of both the Suter MotoGP and Moto2 machines and I'm confident that this collaboration can only lead to even more success in the future, for both Suter Racing and the Marc VDS Racing Team."

Eskil Suter, Managing Director of Suter Racing, echoed Marc van der Straten's sentiments.

"The Marc VDS Racing Team were a new addition to the Grand Prix paddock at the start of the season, but already they've established themselves as one of the leading teams in the Moto2 World Championship," commented Suter, whose Moto2 machine took top honours in the constructors championship this season.

"Input from an experienced team with top riders such as Mika Kallio and Scott Redding is critical to our development process in such a fiercely contested championship as Moto2. The team's involvement in our MotoGP project is of equal importance, as we work this year to develop a machine that will be competitive from the first race of the 2012 season."

-source: marc vds