Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Alex and Danilo get through the deluge in tricky Thailand
ottobre 02, 2022 - Suzuki Racing

Alex and Danilo get through the deluge in tricky Thailand

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Alex Rins: 12th (+ 19.659)
Danilo Petrucci: 20th (+ 42.508)


MotoGP’s return to Buriram was a brutal one, with the passionate fans packing the grandstands but extreme weather blighting the big race. A huge thunder storm swept through the circuit ahead of the start, delaying the off by almost an hour.

Visibility and spray were a big issue as the 25-lap race finally got underway, making it particularly tough for those further back on the grid, like Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Danilo Petrucci who started from 10th and 24th respectively. Rins ran wide a few times on the early laps as he tried to get to grips with conditions, but by the fifth lap he had climbed up into the points with 15th place. He spent the remainder of the race keeping close to the battle in front of him, carefully holding position and staying mindful of the track limits warning he’d picked up. He crossed the finish line in 13th, fractions of a second behind Franco Morbidelli, but the Italian later picked up a penalty which promoted Rins to 12th.

Petrucci’s favoured conditions are ‘the wetter the better’, but he faced a big struggle from the back of the grid. However, the stand-in rider managed to finish the race in 20th place, and he certainly enjoyed the experience.

Alex Rins:

“The race was a bit tricky and hard to manage. There was a lot of standing water on the track, and when you’re in a group with many riders it was so difficult to see with the spray, so I just tried to stay clean and stay safe. It’s not a great result, but my feeling on the bike was actually not bad, especially given we haven’t had much wet track time this year. I’m looking forward to going to Australia next, Philip Island is a cool track to ride and I hope for a better result there.”

Danilo Petrucci:

“First off, I would like to thank the entire team for their help and the big effort they put in. It’s been a huge source of pride for me to ride this bike in this team, they are a really amazing group and they gave everything to find the best setup for me. I struggled today because I didn’t have any wet track time and I found it hard to suddenly ride in the wet, but I relaxed into the race and tried to get into the points. It wasn’t possible and I finished 20th, but I’m still really happy to have been here and able to race with Suzuki.”

Livio Suppo – Team Manager:

“It’s really hard when you’ve only had dry track time and then suddenly you’re faced with a very wet track like we had. Nobody had done laps in the wet, so it’s a case of trying to find the best setup on the spot and taking a gamble. Alex managed the race well considering everything, and he persevered to score some points in 12th position. Danilo did a good job, and his pace was decent considering he’s never ridden our bike in the wet. It’s been a pleasure to have him with us, and we wish him all the best for the future. Now we have a short break to recharge our batteries, and we hope to return with Joan in Australia.”

Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:

“We were prepared for a dry race, but the heavy rain changed everything drastically. The wet conditions weren’t easy and we had a hard race. Alex tried to make a good start, but he lost a few positions, after that his pace wasn’t bad but he struggled to make up positions. However, he still got 12th. Danilo found it very hard to ride the bike in the rain for the first time, but he did a very great and professional job and we enjoyed working with him. Now we have three races left to recover some good results.”

GRAND PRIX OF THAILAND RACE RESULTS:

1 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 41'44.503 163.6
2 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 41'45.233 0.730
3 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 41'46.471 1.968
4 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 41'46.993 2.490
5 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41'47.461 2.958
6 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 41'57.760 13.257
7 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 41'59.069 14.566
8 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 41'59.364 14.861
9 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 41'59.868 15.365
10 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 42'02.600 18.097
11 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 42'03.544 19.041
12 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 42'04.162 19.659
13 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha 42'06.942 22.439
14 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 42'08.149 23.646
15 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 42'14.986 30.483
16 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 42'17.969 33.466
17 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha 42'18.575 34.072
18 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 42'20.706 36.203
19 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 42'21.035 36.532
20 Danilo PETRUCCI Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 42'27.011 42.508
21 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 42'34.495 49.992
22 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA LCR Honda IDEMITSU 42'35.849 51.346
23 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 42'37.685 2 laps
Not classified:
87 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing


RIDERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1 Fabio QUARTARARO 219
2 Francesco BAGNAIA 217
3 Aleix ESPARGARO 199
4 Enea BASTIANINI 180
5 Jack MILLER 179
6 Brad BINDER 154
7 Johann ZARCO 151
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA 131
9 Jorge MARTIN 127
10 Maverick VIÑALES 122
11 Alex RINS 112
12 Luca MARINI 101
13 Marc MARQUEZ 84
14 Marco BEZZECCHI 80
15 Joan MIR 77
16 Alex MARQUEZ 50
17 Pol ESPARGARO 49
18 Takaaki NAKAGAMI 46
19 Franco MORBIDELLI 31
20 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO 23
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 15
22 Darryn BINDER 10
23 Remy GARDNER 9
24 Raul FERNANDEZ 9
25 Cal CRUTCHLOW 3
26 Stefan BRADL 2
27 Michele PIRRO 0
28 Lorenzo SAVADORI 0
29 Danilo PETRUCCI 0
30 Kazuki WATANABE 0
31 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA 0
32 Takuya TSUDA 0