Team Suzuki Press Office – May 3.
A year ago, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins was in stunning form at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto in Jerez, Spain taking his GSX-RR to second overall and moving into second place in the championship standings.
This followed Rins’ first MotoGP™ victory at the Circuit of The Americas a few weeks previously and coincided with the 300th race of the MotoGP era.
Team mate Joan Mir was unfortunate after riding strongly in the top-10 for much of the race but slipped off, thankfully uninjured, when he was in ninth and challenging the group ahead.
Rins began fighting for the top-six positions by the end of the first lap and just three laps into the race set the fastest lap. He continued to battle through the field and moved into second place, keeping up a strong and consistent pace to score his second podium of the season.
Mir had a good start and progressed up the field during the race, holding 10th place for much of the 25-lap race, then in ninth position and close to the group in front of him, he went down at Turn 13. It was a disappointing end for him in the race, after feeling very confident with the bike, but was fortunately uninjured.
Said Rins after the race: “It’s incredible to get a win and then a second place. I feel very happy; this race was really difficult and starting on the third row made it harder. I gave 100% and I knew that my race pace could be close to Marc’s, so I planned to try and get a good start and go towards the front. The Spanish fans were amazing today, I could see Peluqui corner full of fans and it gives me a real boost every lap. I want to keep up this consistency and I hope for another good finish in Le Mans.”
Joan Mir added: “I’m disappointed that I didn’t finish the race, because I had good potential this weekend, but racing is like this. I was happy with my feeling, and when I was catching the group in front I felt good. I really like the next round at Le Mans in France, and I hope I can do a great race there and get the result that I know I’m capable of.”
2019 GP of Spain – Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41’08.685
2. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1.654
3. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +2.443
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Mission Winnow Ducati +2.804
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Mission Winnow Ducati +4.748
6. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +7.547
7. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +8.228
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +10.052
9. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +10.274
10. Stefan BRADL Team HRC +13.402
11. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +15.431
12. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +18.473
13. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +20.156
14. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +26.706
15. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +28.513
16. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +36.858
17. Bradley SMITH Aprilia Factory Racing +41.390
18. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +41.570
19. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +50.568
Not Classified
43 Jack MILLER Pramac Racing
36 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
20 Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT
63 Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing
2019 MotoGP Championship Standings (after Jerez):
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 70
2. Alex RINS Suzuki 69
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 67
4. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 61
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 41
6. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 30
7. Jack MILLER Ducati 29
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 29
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 27
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 25
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 21
12. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
13. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 17
14. Jorge LORENZO Honda 11
15. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 9
16. Joan MIR Suzuki 8
17. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 7
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 7
19. Stefan BRADL Honda 6
20. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 6
21. Tito RABAT Ducati 2
22. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati
23. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM
24. Bradley SMITH Aprilia
