Team Suzuki Press Office – August 29.
MONSTER ENERGY BRITISH GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Race Classification:
Alex Rins: 2nd
Joan Mir: 9th
The usual Silverstone atmosphere closed in on Sunday for the British Grand Prix – an air of unpredictability both in weather conditions and results – and the 67,000 fans present were treated to a tense 20 lap MotoGP™ race.
Joan Mir and Alex Rins were quickly into seventh and eighth on the second lap of the race, and the Team Suzuki Ecstar duo looked keen to make moves in the early stages. With a few riders between them and the top spots, it wasn’t an easy task to make up places. The mission to close down the Ducatis in front of them ended with both GSX-RR riders through on Lap 6. Rins then made a move on his team-mate, and the pair made a pass at Turn 7 on Francesco Bagnaia. By Lap 8 Rins had already moved into a podium place with third.
While Rins continued his quest to get to the front, but Mir was struggling a little with his feeling on the track. This is the first time the Mallorcan has raced at Silverstone on a MotoGP™ bike and he was holding a solid fifth place for several laps but towards the end of the race he began to lose places after struggling for feel on his front end. He therefore finished the race in ninth place.
Having got into second place on Lap 12, Rins did a great job of maintaining this position despite pressure from Aleix Espargaro during the last laps. Riding in his usual smooth style around a track he really likes, he was able to take his first podium of the season.
Mir holds onto second in the championship standings, while Rins moves up to 11th.
Alex Rins:
“I’m super, super, super happy because we’ve put in a lot of effort and work to get back on the podium. It hasn’t been easy, because even when I’ve had the pace, I’ve had crashes and problems. I was aiming for a Top 5 finish today, but in the end I felt really good and comfortable with the bike so I was able to push. I was fast but without taking risks or having to make aggressive moves. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium and celebrate with all my team.”
Joan Mir:
“Well, honestly, the feeling today was really good and I was able to ride in a nice way and be in the positions that I wanted. I felt confident with my bike and I knew that I could have good race pace. Even if my results this weekend haven’t been really strong, I was feeling very strong in the race. But then I started struggling with the front end, which was completely unexpected, and I lost a lot of time in the last laps. This problem started from the 10th lap, and from then it was a bit of a struggle and I’m disappointed because I was hoping for a better result, even for my first time here.”
Shinichi Sahara – Project Leader and Team Director:
“Today was a mixed day for us. We’re very happy for Alex, finally he got a podium and he did a good job. This is his first podium of the year, so it’s very nice for all of us. It was a pity for Joan because he was in really good shape and he learned the track well, but then he had some issues with the feeling on the front end. We need to investigate what happened because it cost him quite a few positions. But he is still second in the championship, which is a great thing. We know that qualifying is our biggest issue at the moment, so we’ll continue to work and fight.”
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“First I want to say congratulations to Alex, we’ve all waited a long time to see him on the podium again and it’s been a strong comeback. I hope he can continue in this way. Joan’s performance wasn’t bad, but he struggled with the feeling and in the end we couldn’t get the result we’d hoped for. But the season isn’t finished yet, we will continue to fight and let’s see what happens.”
MONSTER ENERGY BRITISH GRAND PRIX – Race Classification:
1. F. QUARTARARO – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – 40:20.579
2. A. RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +02.663
3. A. ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – +04.105
4. J. MILLER – Ducati Lenovo Team – +04.254
5. P. ESPARGARO – Repsol Honda Team – +08.462
6. B. BINDER – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +12.189
7. I. LECUONA – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing – +13.560
8. A. MARQUEZ – LCR Honda CASTROL – +14.044
9. J. MIR – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +16.226
10. D. PETRUCCI – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing – +16.287
11. J. ZARCO – Pramac Racing – +16.339
12. E. BASTIANINI – Avintia Esponsorama – +17.696
13. T. NAKAGAMI – LCR Honda IDEMITSU – +18.285
14. F. BAGNAIA – Ducati Lenovo Team – +20.913
15. L. MARINI – SKY VR46 Avintia – +21.018
16. M. OLIVEIRA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +22.022
17. C. CRUTCHLOW – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – +23.232
18. V. ROSSI – Petronas Yamaha SRT – +29.758
19. J. DIXON – Petronas Yamaha SRT – +50.845
Not Classified
J. MARTIN – Pramac Racing – 03:11.159 – 1 laps
M. MARQUEZ – Repsol Honda Team – 00.000 – 1 laps
MotoGP World Standings 2021:
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha FRA 206
2 Joan MIR Suzuki SPA 141
3 Johann ZARCO Ducati FRA 137
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati ITA 136
5 Jack MILLER Ducati AUS 118
6 Brad BINDER KTM RSA 108
7 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA 95
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM POR 85
9 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA 83
10 Jorge MARTIN Ducati SPA 64
11 Alex RINS Suzuki SPA 64
12 Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA 59
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN 58
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda SPA 52
15 Alex MARQUEZ Honda SPA 49
16 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha ITA 40
17 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM ITA 36
18 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati ITA 35
19 Iker LECUONA KTM SPA 33
20 Luca MARINI Ducati ITA 28
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 28
22 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 11
23 Dani PEDROSA KTM SPA 6
24 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia ITA 4
25 Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA 3
26 Tito RABAT Ducati SPA 1
