Team Suzuki Press Office – October 23
Alex Rins: 5th (+ 11.923)
Joan Mir: 19th (+ 41.838)
The enthusiastic fans turned out in their thousands for MotoGP’s return to action at Sepang, and the first race at the track since 2019 stayed dry for the duration of the 20-lap shoot out.
Alex Rins got a good initial launch off the line but dropped into the pack a little, while Joan Mir dived through from his 11th place grid spot to slot immediately into seventh. As the pack settled down both Suzuki riders were running together, and after being held up for a couple of laps they soon found themselves in a tight group fighting for fifth place. By Lap 7 Mir had moved into a strong fourth, while Rins sat in seventh. After a few more laps had passed, it was Rins who went into battle with the group, gaining an important Top 5 position. However, with gaps in the field and it was the highest place he could achieve with the time remaining. This solid fifth place finish still gives a boost to both rider and team. Mir hit trouble during the race when he started to suffer bad arm pump, and a subsequent run-off with just a handful of laps remaining pushed him further back. He finished a luckless 18th.
Just one race now remains for Team Suzuki Ecstar, at Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia on November 6th where the entire squad will push to go out in style.
Alex Rins:
“The race wasn’t too bad, but we struggled a lot. I couldn’t get the best start when I released the clutch, and then I got swamped a bit. After that I found that when I was behind other riders I was struggling for grip and a lack of traction on corner exits. I felt the grip level on track was much less than in the practices, and I was not as strong as in the practices on braking; that meant I wasn’t able to show the pace that I’ve shown in the last few days. However, fifth place is not too bad, and it’s more points to solidify my position in the championship.”
Joan Mir:
“It’s been a disappointing race for me, especially after a good performance on the early laps. I started to suffer with arm pump, which is something I haven’t really experienced before. I had a little bit of it last time we raced here, but nothing very bad, whereas this year I could barely use the lever. I’m extremely disappointed, for myself but also for the team, because we’ve been trying hard and we wanted and needed a good result. I thought I would get a Top 5, which would’ve been a boost, but it wasn’t to be and luck wasn’t on my side again. I’ll consult with the doctors to see if I need surgery in the winter, because it’s horrible.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good race for both sides of the garage, in the last couple of races we’ve only felt ‘half happy’ because Alex has done well but Joan has suffered. Let’s hope in Valencia we can have both riders finishing well. Alex did a pretty good race, he has been competitive all weekend and despite not having great grip, he still managed a solid fifth. Joan was also doing a good job but he was affected by arm pump, which is something he hasn’t really had a problem with before, and it cost him. We’ll try to help him find a solution, although arm pump can be tough to fix. Sepang is a very physical track, and Valencia a bit less so, so let’s hope for a strong finish for Joan there.”
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“The riders gave 100% but we couldn’t’ fight for the podium today, and our race pace was not quite as quick as we expected. However, the performance overall wasn’t bad, and Alex managed to get a nice fifth place. Joan was also fighting very well, and he was on course for a good finish, but unfortunately the arm pump happened and he couldn’t do any more. We have just one race left, and we’ll give absolutely everything to get a good result for both riders, who deserve a good send off.”
GRAND PRIX OF MALAYSIA RACE RESULTS:
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 40’14.332
2 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 40’14.602 0.270
3 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 40’17.105 2.773
4 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 40’19.778 5.446
5 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 40’26.255 11.923
6 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 40’27.804 13.472
7 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 40’28.636 14.304
8 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 40’31.137 16.805
9 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 40’32.690 18.358
10 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 40’35.923 21.591
11 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 40’37.567 23.235
12 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 40’38.973 24.641
13 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 40’39.250 24.918
14 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 40’39.918 25.586
15 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 40’41.371 27.039
16 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 40’44.759 30.427
17 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 40’47.654 33.322
18 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 40’48.023 33.691
19 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 40’56.170 41.838
Not classified:
40 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP
49 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP
89 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing
45 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA LCR Honda IDEMITSU
10 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team
RIDERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1 Francesco BAGNAIA 258
1 Fabio QUARTARARO 235
3 Aleix ESPARGARO 212
4 Enea BASTIANINI 211
5 Jack MILLER 189
6 Brad BINDER 168
7 Johann ZARCO 166
8 Alex RINS 148
9 Miguel OLIVEIRA 138
10 Jorge MARTIN 136
11 Maverick VIÑALES 122
12 Marc MARQUEZ 113
13 Luca MARINI 111
14 Marco BEZZECCHI 106
15 Joan MIR 77
16 Pol ESPARGARO 56
17 Alex MARQUEZ 50
18 Takaaki NAKAGAMI 46
19 Franco MORBIDELLI 36
20 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO 23
21 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 15
22 Darryn BINDER 12
23 Remy GARDNER 10
24 Cal CRUTCHLOW 10
25 Raul FERNANDEZ 10
26 Stefan BRADL 2
27 Michele PIRRO 0
28 Lorenzo SAVADORI 0
29 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA 0
30 Danilo PETRUCCI 0
31 Kazuki WATANABE 0
32 Takuya TSUDA 0
