MotoGP

SUZUKI QUICK TO SLIDE INTO TOP 5 FOR SAN MARINO WEEKEND


Team Suzuki Press Office - September 17.

Joan Mir: 2nd – 1’32.746 (+ 0.080)
Alex Rins: 5th - 1’32.885 (+ 0.219)

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders Joan Mir and Alex Rins kicked off the race weekend at Misano in style less than one week after racing in Aragón where Mir took his fifth podium of the season.

The pair placed themselves inside the top five early in FP1 on Friday morning, and despite the track being a little ‘green’ and lacking in grip, the warm and sunny conditions allowed the riders to feel comfortable with their GSX-RRs from the get-go. After taking first and second on the timesheets they turned their attention to setting a string of strong laps. The Top 16 riders were covered by one second with 12 minutes left in the session when the skies opened and torrential rain soaked Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. With five minutes left on the clock, both Rins and Mir opted to head out on full wet tyres to gauge the situation.

When FP2 rolled around, the riders’ decision to exit in the wet during FP1 paid off as once again it began to pour down. With plenty of standing water on the track, Mir and Rins were able to cautiously get to grips with conditions, avoiding crashes but gradually building confidence should the remainder of the weekend be wet. They steadily worked their way up, with Mir taking fourth and Rins 11th in FP2.

At the end of Friday, Suzuki’s best times from the morning stood with Mir in second and Rins in fifth, both very close to top spot.

Joan Mir:

“It was a shame that I wasn’t able to do a time attack with a soft tyre today, because that’s something we want to work on, and we need to work on. But the weather had other ideas! Anyway, my feeling with the bike is good in both wet and dry conditions. We collected a lot of good information today, and although there’s still margin to improve, we’ve done a good job and we feel happy and strong here. The track is unpredictable in the wet so I was very cautious, let’s see tomorrow if we get some dry track time.”

Alex Rins:

“It was a mixed day; we got the chance to try all conditions. This morning, in the first half an hour of FP1, I felt really good and it was nice to find that feeling so early in the weekend. My best lap was set even with some mistakes, so I think that I can improve tomorrow. The whole of FP2 was in wet conditions, and I managed to do a lot of laps to discover the grip and the limits, that was really useful. I tried a few tyre options today and I feel well prepared for tomorrow.”

Ken Kawauchi - Technical Manager:

“It seems like our first day of the Misano weekend isn’t bad. We were able to try wet and dry settings and in both situations the feeling was quite good for our riders. Because of the weather, though, there were some things we didn’t manage to try so that means tomorrow will be an important day for us. But overall, we’re satisfied with our pace so far.”

GP OCTO DI SAN MARINO E DELLA RIVIERA DI RIMINI - Combined Classification after DAY1:

1. M. VIÑALES - Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 01:32.666
2. J. MIR - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 01:32.746 - +0.080
3. F. BAGNAIA - Ducati Lenovo Team - 01:32.801 - +0.135
4. J. MILLER - Ducati Lenovo Team - 01:32.859 - +0.193
5. A. RINS - Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 01:32.885 - +0.219
6. P. ESPARGARO - Repsol Honda Team - 01:33.019 - +0.353
7. F. QUARTARARO - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - 01:33.024 - +0.358
8. S. BRADL - Repsol Honda Team - 01:33.047 - +0.381
9. M. MARQUEZ - Repsol Honda Team - 01:33.100 - +0.434
10. A. ESPARGARO - Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 01:33.102 - +0.436
11. J. ZARCO - Pramac Racing - 01:33.143 - +0.477
12. E. BASTIANINI - Avintia Esponsorama - 01:33.314 - +0.648
13. T. NAKAGAMI - LCR Honda IDEMITSU - 01:33.409 - +0.743
14. J. MARTIN - Pramac Racing - 01:33.451 - +0.785
15. M. PIRRO - Ducati Lenovo Team - 01:33.482 - +0.816
16. F. MORBIDELLI - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - 01:33.570 - +0.904
17. I. LECUONA - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing - 01:33.710 - +1.044
18. A. MARQUEZ - LCR Honda CASTROL - 01:33.766 - +1.100
19. V. ROSSI - Petronas Yamaha SRT - 01:33.791 - +1.125
20. D. PETRUCCI - Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing - 01:33.950 - +1.284
21. B. BINDER - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 01:34.022 - +1.356
22. M. OLIVEIRA - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 01:34.026 - +1.360
23. L. MARINI - SKY VR46 Avintia - 01:34.037 - +1.371

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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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