Paul Denning: Man On A Mission
Paul Denning: Man on a Mission
RACE WATCH
Meet Paul Denning, replacement for the recently retired Garry Taylor, Suzuki’s long-serving Grand Prix team manager. The 38-year-old Englishman cut his teeth in race-team management with Suzuki’s British Superbike effort, a squad he successfully ran for nearly a decade under the Crescent Racing banner.
Two years ago, when Suzuki sent number-one son Yukio Kagayama to Britain to race BSB on a GSX-R1000, it was clear that the factory respected Denning’s work. Last year, Kagayama’s teammate, veteran racer John Reynolds, became the first BSB champion since 1997 to take the title on anything other than a Ducati. Halfway through the season, Suzuki approached Denning about replacing Taylor.
“They didn’t want to completely start again,” explains Denning. “But they wanted a fresh set of eyes and a fresh injection of enthusiasm. It was important to have someone who knew how the factory worked and the good and bad points of the current system.”
For Denning, making a decision was far from easy. He had plenty to consider-a
family, the BSB team and the Crescent Suzuki retail business. Also, Suzuki’s MotoGP results have been less than stellar. “I was only interested in the job if I could move things forward,” he explains.
But moving things forward didn’t involve moving riders
out. Following early season tests, Denning had plenty of praise for his riders, Americans Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins.
“With Hopkins, we’ve got the most talented young rider on the grid,” says Denning. “I’ll qualify that statement by saying he pushes as hard, if not harder, than other young riders on the grid, but he doesn’t fall off as much. That means something. And we’ve got Kenny, who’s won plenty of Grands Prix and can ride with the Max Biaggis and Valentino Rossis without even thinking about it.
“Since taking the job I’ve learned that Hopkins is an awfhl lot brighter, particularly for a 21-year-old, than I might’ve put him down for,” continues Denning. “His technical feedback is brief and precise. He shows a very good understanding of what needs to be done.”
And Roberts? “Kenny is the last guy to have beaten Rossi in the world championship,” Denning points out. “It’s not as if he’s forgotten how to twist the throttle You tell me what’s changed. Let’s him a competitive bike and find out.
“I hope we’ve given him that bike season,” Denning adds. “At Sep, the fourth day of our test, durin hottest part of the day, Kenfg
waiting to go out again-desperate to ride the bike. Have we seen the best of Kenny Roberts Jr.? I don’t know. I don’t think he’s forgotten how to stuff it past Biaggi, Rossi or whomever else when he gets the opportunity. These guys only need a glimmer of competitiveness and
to see that we’re working to take things forward and we’ll see two different riders. I’m sure of it.”
At Sepang, both Roberts Jr. and Hopkins were consistently 2 seconds per lap quicker than they were at last year’s race. Denning puts the improvement down to a new engine, advancements in the fuel-injection system and Bridgestone tires. But MotoGP bikes are still in their infancy. In preseason testing, lap times plummeted on all fronts. Suzuki needs to make giant leaps. Still, there’s no denting the Englishman’s understated confidence.
Every potential “issue” brought up is swatted away. No sponsor? No problem. A potential title sponsor allegedly approached Suzuki, but said sponsor wanted a Spanish rider, and Suzuki wasn’t interested. Apparently, the factory didn’t need the money.
Denning also says gunning for titles in AMA, BSB and WSB doesn’t stretch Suzuki’s race workshop or take resources away from the MotoGP effort. “Compared to MotoGP, making the GSX-R1000 competitive was a five-minute job,” he says.
If we are to believe Denning, everything’s on the right track. So it all comes down to one question: When will Suzuki give Hopkins and Roberts Jr. a bike they can win on? “If we can continue the pace of improvement we’ve seen at the preseason tests,” says Denning, “it will be this year.” Gary Inman
