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maggio 03, 2021 - Suzuki Racing

Rins and Mir ready for Spanish GP from top 10 spots

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Team Suzuki Press Office - May 1.

Grid positions for Spanish GP:

Alex Rins: 9th - 1’37.124
Joan Mir: 10th - 1’37.154


Saturday morning’s FP3 session proved to be extremely competitive with times dropping early on and the first 11 riders covered by just two tenths of a second. #teamsuzukiecstar quickly set to work to ensure both riders could get into the much coveted Top 10 and this paid off as Joan Mir and Alex Rins proceeded to put in a string of fast laps, moving themselves firmly into Q2 progression with fourth and 10th respectively.

FP4 was windier and cooler than expected, but the Suzuki squad proved their consistent pace by putting in long runs in the early-to-mid 1’38s. Rins had a small crash at Turn 5 without consequences and he held on to a great third place and Mir was close by in seventh.

The final qualifying session of the Spanish GP was a tricky one, and despite Suzuki’s riders timing their stops perfectly allowing for three flying laps, they struggled to bring their hot-lap pace down. However, they held on to Top 10 grid spots with Rins ninth and Mir 10th, and both are feeling confident for tomorrow’s race battle.

Ken Kawauchi - Technical Manager:

“Today gave us mixed feelings, because both riders went directly to Q2 for the first time this year and that was really good. But our expectations for qualifying were higher - we thought we could get on the front two rows. In the end 9th and 10th is OK, and especially because our race pace is quite solid. Alex had a crash today but luckily no damage done. We’ll be hoping for a good race tomorrow.”

Alex Rins:

“Today was pretty good, but not 100% good; during qualifying I put in a strong lap time on my first exit with the fresh tyre, but then I couldn’t improve on my second exit because I struggled to get the best feeling. I was really hoping to improve my time, because after FP4 I was really motivated to qualify well. I wasn’t far behind but I still ended up 9th because it was all very close between everyone. The crash didn’t have an impact on my performance, so that’s good, and I’m aiming to get a strong start tomorrow and give my best.”

Joan Mir:

“Overall my day was positive, I can’t ask for much more because I was really close to the top time and in the other sessions I had strong pace. In qualifying we were less than half a second behind the top time but we are in 10th place, so it’s a shame. But anyway, we’re getting closer and we can still improve more, for sure qualifying is one area we always try to work on. I hope tomorrow I can manage the race well, let’s see what we can do.”

GRAN PREMIO RED BULL DE ESPAÑA - Qualifying Classification:

1 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'36.755
2 Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT 1’36.812 0.057 / 0.057
3 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1’36.860 0.105 / 0.048
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1’36.960 0.205 / 0.100
5 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’37.008 0.253 / 0.048
6 Johann ZARCO Pramac Racing 1’37.054 0.299 / 0.046
7 Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’37.070 0.315 / 0.016
8 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’37.085 0.330 / 0.015
9 Alex RINS #teamsuzukiecstar 1’37.124 0.369 / 0.039
10 Joan MIR #teamsuzukiecstar 1’37.154 0.399 / 0.030

11 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’37.467 0.712 / 0.313
12 Stefan BRADL Honda HRC 1’37.502 0.747 / 0.035
13 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 1’37.407 Q1
14 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’37.489 Q1
15 Enea BASTIANINI Avintia Esponsorama 1’37.675 Q1
16 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’37.746 Q1
17 Valentino ROSS Petronas Yamaha SRT 1’37.915 Q1
18 Luca MARINI SKY VR46 Avintia 1’37.925 Q1
19 Danilo PETRUCCI Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 1’38.065 Q1
20 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1’38.069 Q1
21 Iker LECUONA Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing 1’38.139. Q1
22 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’38.325 Q1
23 Tito RABAT Pramac Racing 1’38.641 Q1