MotoGP

BUILDING THE FEELING ON DAY 1 AT THE BRITISH GP


Team Suzuki Press Office - August 27.

Alex Rins: 9th - 02:00.392 - +1.075
Joan Mir: 13th - 02:00.725 - +1.408

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir took to the track at Silverstone on Friday, with Mir experiencing it on a MotoGP™ bike for the first time after missing out due to injury two years ago. For Rins it’s a return to the place where he took a fantastic victory last time the championship raced here in 2019.

FP1 kicked off proceedings under cloudy skies with a chill in the air, making it tricky to get the feeling with the bike and tyres. Both Team Suzuki Ecstar riders took a steady approach, building up their confidence and working to bring down their lap times. The session was disrupted in the closing moments due to poor track conditions following a crash. Rins finished FP1 in seventh, and Mir in 15th.

Things warmed up in time for FP2, and with low temperatures predicted in the morning, it was an important session with qualifying in mind. Rins and Mir continued to drop some tenths from their lap times, improving and feeling better on the warmer tarmac. The pair went for three fast laps at the end of the session and despite both entering the Top 10, most of the field also pushed and improved; this meant they closed with Rins in ninth and Mir in 13th.

Alex Rins:

“It’s been a cold day here in Silverstone, but despite this my feeling wasn’t actually bad and I have good consistent pace. I was pretty fast with used tyres, but then when I put the soft tyre in I didn’t manage to improve as much as I wanted because the feeling wasn’t so good. The main thing I need to work on now is setting a fast lap, and that will be the aim for tomorrow. At the moment I’m in the Top 10, and hopefully it will stay like that so I can go directly into Q2 tomorrow.”

Joan Mir:

“I really enjoyed riding this amazing track for the first time with the GSX-RR, but I had some trouble - in FP1 something was not feeling right with the front tyre that we used and I lost a lot of confidence, and then in FP2 it was much better but I needed more laps. We spent quite a lot of that second session understanding and building on the speed, but in the end there was just not enough time to make up for the struggles in FP1. We need to adjust a few things, which is usual when you come somewhere for the first time. The main thing is that we still had some improvement, but today I wasn’t competitive and tomorrow I want to be.”

Ken Kawauchi - Technical Manager:

“For our first day on track here, it hasn’t been too bad but also not too good. This track should be a good one for us, but it’s not easy and for Joan it’s the first time riding here with the GSX-RR. The riders improved their times today but we need to keep improving and we will work hard tomorrow to try and make sure that we can go much faster.”

MONSTER ENERGY BRITISH GRAND PRIX - Combined Classification after DAY1:

1. F. QUARTARARO - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - 01:59.317
2. J. MILLER - Ducati Lenovo Team - 01:59.829 - +0.512
3. J. MARTIN - Pramac Racing - 01:59.939 - +0.622
4. P. ESPARGARO - Repsol Honda Team - 02:00.035 - +0.718
5. M. MARQUEZ - Repsol Honda Team - 02:00.051 - +0.734
6. F. BAGNAIA - Ducati Lenovo Team - 02:00.102 - +0.785
7. A. ESPARGARO - Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 02:00.219 - +0.902
8. B. BINDER - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 02:00.315 - +0.998
9. A. RINS - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 02:00.392 - +1.075
10. V. ROSSI - Petronas Yamaha SRT - 02:00.400 - +1.083
11. I. LECUONA - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing - 02:00.413 - +1.096
12. E. BASTIANINI - Avintia Esponsorama - 02:00.548 - +1.231
13. J. MIR - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 02:00.725 - +1.408
14. J. ZARCO - Pramac Racing - 02:00.810 - +1.493
15. T. NAKAGAMI - LCR Honda IDEMITSU - 02:00.870 - +1.553
16. C. CRUTCHLOW - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - 02:00.882 - +1.565
17. L. MARINI - SKY VR46 Avintia - 02:01.058 - +1.741
18. D. PETRUCCI - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing - 02:01.405 - +2.088
19. M. OLIVEIRA - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 02:01.412 - +2.095
20. A. MARQUEZ - LCR Honda CASTROL - 02:01.496 - +2.179
21. J. DIXON - Petronas Yamaha SRT - 02:02.601 - +3.284
22. L. SAVADORI - Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 02:05.138 - +5.821

British GP Image Gallery: CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS




For more stories about Alex Rins, Click Here. For photos, Click Here.

For more stories about Joan Mir, Click Here. For photos, Click Here.

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