Team Suzuki Press Office – September 18.
Alex Rins: 9th (+ 12.702)
The Aragon Grand Prix proved to be a highly dramatic round, leaving a consistently quick Alex Rins wondering ‘what could’ve been’ despite solid ninth place finish.
The scorching Spanish circuit welcomed a bumper crowd while a powerful atmosphere was growing in the pre-race build-up – consisting of an opera singer, a brass band, and a minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth II.
As Team Suzuki Ecstar’s sole representative after the withdrawal of Joan Mir, Rins was determined to perform at a high level and reach a strong result in front of his home supporters. As the lights went out for the 23-lap race, he was ready to attack from ninth on the grid, but a shockingly big crash between Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo left Rins with no choice but to take evasive action.
Thanks to his quick reactions and presence of mind, the Suzuki rider dodged a stricken Quartararo but ended up at the back of the pack. A further incident between Marquez and Nakagami left the field reeling, but Rins was able to keep his head down and dig deep, rising steadily through the ranks. By the 10th lap of the race he was up to 12th, and lapping with excellent pace. He kept this up throughout the race and closed as many gaps as he could to reach ninth. He briefly managed eighth place on the final corners but was retaken on the run to the flag and finished a respectable ninth.
Team Suzuki Ecstar will be back on track next weekend in Motegi, Japan.
Test Rider Takuya Tsuda, who was due to have a wildcard ride alongside Rins and Mir, will instead stand up as a replacement for Mir.
Alex Rins:
“My race sort of ended on the first lap, because after avoiding Fabio I was last. I tried to stay calm, close the gaps, and make some overtakes. In the end I’m disappointed because my rhythm was really good and I could’ve had a nice result, but at the same time I’m quite happy because I know I did my best to get back to ninth and I recovered many positions. I went to visit the crowd at the end of the race and they lifted my spirits too. Racing is unpredictable and today could have been much worse, so let’s keep a positive mindset heading to Motegi.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“Alex did a very good job; we knew before the start of the race that he would have the pace to fight for the podium and he proved this to be true. Unfortunately, on the first lap the two accidents caused him to lose a lot of time and pushed him way back. After that he showed how well he could perform, but it was too difficult to reach higher than ninth. We’ll try to keep this form going into Motegi, and we hope for better luck there. We’ll miss Joan in Japan, but meanwhile we will welcome Takuya Tsuda into the squad as his replacement.”
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“Alex was our only rider today due to Joan’s injury, and we had confidence in his ability to bring home a good finish. However, the accident on the first lap really impacted his result; his performance and pace were very strong, but he had to fight from the back. He did really well to avoid the accident and ninth place is still a consistent finish, but it’s disappointing for him not to be up the front after his hard work. Let’s look ahead now to the team’s home race in Motegi next week.”
GRAND PRIX OF ARAGON RACE RESULTS:
1 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 41’35.462
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 41’35.504 0.042
3 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 41’41.601 6.139
4 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory 41’41.841 6.379
5 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 41’42.426 6.964
6 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 41’47.492 12.030
7 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 41’47.936 12.474
8 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 41’48.117 12.655
9 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 41’48.164 12.702
10 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 41’51.612 16.150
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 41’52.533 17.071
12 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 41’53.925 18.463
13 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 41’54.192 18.730
14 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 41’55.552 20.090
15 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 42’03.050 27.588
16 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 42’04.267 28.805
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 42’05.884 30.422
18 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 42’06.792 31.330
19 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 42’07.057 31.595
20 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 42’11.622 36.160
Not classified
93 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
Not finished first lap
20 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU HONDA
RIDERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1 Fabio QUARTARARO 211
2 Francesco BAGNAIA 201
3 Aleix ESPARGARO 194
4 Enea BASTIANINI 163
5 Jack MILLER 134
6 Johann ZARCO 133
7 Brad BINDER 128
8 Alex RINS 108
9 Jorge MARTIN 104
10 Maverick VIÑALES 104
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA 95
12 Luca MARINI 91
13 Joan MIR 77
14 Marco BEZZECCHI 74
15 Marc MARQUEZ 60
16 Takaaki NAKAGAMI 46
17 Pol ESPARGARO 43
18 Alex MARQUEZ 39
19 Franco MORBIDELLI 26
20 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO 23
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 15
22 Darryn BINDER 10
23 Remy GARDNER 9
24 Raul FERNANDEZ 8
25 Stefan BRADL 2
26 Cal CRUTCHLOW 2
27 Michele PIRRO 0
28 Lorenzo SAVADORI 0
29 Kazuki WATANABE 0
