Team Suzuki Press Office – Aug 11.
Andrea Iannone: 17th – 1’25.218 +1.172
Alex Rins: 22nd – 1’25.452 +1.406
The first day of practice at the Austrian GP demonstrated the development work started in Monday’s testing in Brno. Riders Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins were able to benefit from the new settings and continue to focus on the race preparation, albeit without proper attempts to the time attack. At the end of the today’s session Iannone is in 17th place in the combined classification (1’25.218), while Rins is in 22nd (1’25.452).
In the morning session, the technical progress made in Brno’s testing paid off immediately, with both riders consistently improving in their performances. Iannone worked hard with medium tyres to pull off a good pace and set his best time at 1’25.608, earning him 14th position in classification, the last of the 14 riders closing in on the one second gap. Rins for his part made the most of the session by getting familiar with the track, managing to make consistent progress while putting his GSX-RR in 23rd place with 1’26.014.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“With Andrea we managed to further improve the machine, continuing on from the positive work we did on Monday in Brno. The settings gave him more confidence. In the afternoon we focused on race pace and the times have been pretty positive and consistent. Moreover, we wanted to test a further setting modification; when Andrea decided to come in for the time attack it was quite late and we decided not to change the front tyre but only the rear, in order to save time in the garage and give him more time on track. We couldn’t then properly take advantage of the rear soft tyre this time. We are happy of the pace and we still have room for improvement in the classification. Alex consistently improved as well; he’s finding his own pace which is good for him. This is his first time on this track that is pretty peculiar, so having made some progress is a positive sign. Tomorrow we will try to finalize a good setup as quickly as possible, one that would allow him to improve his position.”
Andrea Iannone
“The test in Brno gave us some improvements, but overall we’ve been improving since the beginning of the year. Today I felt positive, especially considering that we only went with a medium tyre and we didn’t try the time attack with the soft. In the afternoon the pace was good with worn tyres. Tomorrow it will be important to take advantage of the soft tyres. Today we tried a new one only at the rear and not at the front, which means we can still improve. We also still have some margin in the setup. We are improving and I think tomorrow we can aim at getting direct access to the Q2 and also hope for a top ten qualifying.”
Alex Rins
“This is a very distinctive track compared to the others. I think we can improve a lot in different areas of the circuit. We especially have a lot of margin to improve in the braking where I’m losing the most time in a lap. Anyways, it is just my first day here and I’m trying to find out how to achieve the best performance. We are working really hard and I think tomorrow we can get a step ahead.”
GP of Austria – Combined classification of Day 1:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1’24.046
2. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’24.280 +0.234
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1’24.474 +0.428
4. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’24.522 +0.476
5. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1’24.616 +0.570
6. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’24.631 +0.585
7. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1’24.649 +0.603
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1’24.668 +0.622
9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’24.726 +0.680
10. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’24.765 +0.719
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’24.780 +0.734
12. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’24.859 +0.813
13. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’24.883 +0.837
14. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’24.925 +0.879
15. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’24.935 +0.889
16. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’24.992 +0.946
17. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’25.218 +1.172
18. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’25.270 +1.224
19. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’25.320 +1.274
20. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’25.335 +1.289
21. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’25.369 +1.323
22. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’25.452 +1.406
23. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’25.616 +1.570
24. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’25.664 +1.618
