Team Suzuki Press Office – June 3.
Alex Rins: 8th – 1’40.101 (+ 0.699)
Joan Mir: 16th – 1’40.650 (+ 1.248)
The pace was as hot as the weather as the Catalan GP weekend got underway in blazing June sunshine. Alex Rins proved comfortable from the get-go in FP1, setting the pace in terms of laps and sectors, and he closed the day in eighth on combined. Joan Mir was more focused on finding the right set-up ahead of an important Saturday, finishing Friday in 16th
As is often the case in MotoGP these days, the times were incredibly tight with the first 19 riders separated by just one second in FP1. Rins was able to put his GSX-RR at the top of the timesheets with a 1’40.101. He was fastest in sectors 2, 3, and 4 of the circuit, placing second quickest in sector 1. Mir placed within the Top 10 in ninth, after spending the first part of the session working on set-up.
FP2 saw few improvements to begin with, with the track temperature running at over 50 degrees Celsius. Towards the end of the session both Rins and Mir switched over to the medium-soft tyre combination, but they did not put in a true time attack. They closed Friday in eighth and 16th respectively.
Alex Rins:
“I tried a different strategy to normal – I began with the hardest tyre on the rear and then worked my way to the medium-medium combo, which suited me well and I felt fast. I then began FP2 with this selection so that I could assess the performance in the hotter conditions, before switching to medium-soft at the end, but I didn’t really feel as good with that. However, I’m pleased with how I’ve started the weekend and my goal is to go directly to Q2 tomorrow.”
Joan Mir:
“Straight away I felt that I still had some troubles with the front end so we knew we needed to work in that area. We decided to try a few different ways to try and improve the lap times and my feeling, but we’re going to try something else tomorrow and see what happens. We’re working hard and we still feel positive because we believe that we can fix this.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“Today wasn’t bad, especially with Alex; he was fast in the morning and although he didn’t improve his lap time in the afternoon, he showed consistent pace and he’s feeling pretty comfortable. On the other side of the garage Joan was struggling a little to find the best set-up, but he and the team are working to improve that for tomorrow.”
GRAND PRIX OF CATALUNYA DAY 1 COMBINED CLASSIFICATION:
1 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1’39.402
2 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1’39.705 0.303 0.303
3 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 1’39.890 0.488 0.185
4 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1’39.950 0.548 0.060
5 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 1’39.989 0.587 0.039
6 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’40.083 0.681 0.094
7 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1’40.095 0.693 0.012
8 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’40.101 0.699 0.006
9 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’40.123 0.721 0.028
10 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’40.204 0.802 0.078
11 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 1’40.237 0.835 0.033
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’40.256 0.854 0.019
13 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 1’40.346 0.944 0.090
14 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’40.428 1.026 0.082
15 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’40.448 1.046 0.020
16 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’40.650 1.248 0.202
17 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 1’40.752 1.350 0.102
18 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1’40.785 1.383 0.033
19 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’40.821 1.419 0.036
20 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 1’40.871 1.469 0.050
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 1’40.943 1.541 0.072
22 Michele PIRRO Aruba.it Racing 1’41.051 1.649 0.108
23 Stefan BRADL Repsol Honda Team 1’41.074 1.672 0.023
24 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1’41.083 1.681 0.009
25 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1’41.330 1.928 0.247
