Team Suzuki Press Office – September 9.
Alex Rins: 4th (+ 14.587)
Andrea Iannone: 8th (+ 21.804)
• Fantastic race from Alex Rins to take 4th.
• Iannone earns strong 8th place finish.
• Team SUZUKI ECSTAR pleased after tricky opening days.
The 27 lap San Marino Grand Prix, Round 13 of the 2018 Championship, was set to be scorching – both in temperature and in atmosphere. Following a straight forward and useful Warm-Up session, Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone were ready to take to the 41c Misano circuit.
From their 10th and 13th place grid places respectively the pair made good starts, with Rins slotting into 7th place and moving his way quickly into 6th – up four positions from grid. Iannone was initially 13th but began to make progress in the early laps. Three laps into the race, Rins moved into 5th, before passing Viñales for 4th. The Spaniard was later passed by Crutchlow, but he was able to hold position, and gained 4th back following a crash from Lorenzo. Rins kept this strong position until the end, earning a great result. Meanwhile, Iannone worked hard to try and catch the group in front of him, closing the gap until the end of the race, when he finished a valuable 8th place.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“This has been a positive race, despite we didn’t have quite enough speed to get a podium both riders did a very good job. Our tactic was to use a soft tyre, and keep it in good condition until the end of the race. This strategy worked for both riders and we’re very satisfied with the result, we hope to continue like this and return to the podium – maybe even the top step.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We are very happy with this result, because Alex did a very good race and got the best position he could. He was very clever with tyre management and he resisted the pressure behind him, which he had for many laps. So congratulations to him, we’re very happy. Andrea also did a good race, unfortunately I think he was disadvantaged by the grid position because he had to spend time gaining positions at the start, but his pace was good and he could’ve been nearer the top with a better qualifying result. Overall I’m happy because our bike seems to work well and we were very competitive. We’ll try to keep this trend and continue with it in Aragòn.”
Alex Rins
“During the whole weekend I didn’t feel very fast with the medium tyre, so we chose the soft, and I didn’t think about the degradation too much because I knew I could be strong with the soft tyre. I’m very pleased with the race, it was incredible. The key was making a good start and trying to stay with the front group, and after that I just tried to keep my rhythm, but that became more and more difficult because I started to feel movement on the front end. Anyway, I’m happy with this 4th place and I hope we’ll continue like this.”
Andrea Iannone
“First of all, when you start near the back of the grid it’s very difficult to recover. For me it was not easy to overtake, especially on the braking points, but in the end I was able to keep pushing and pass some riders, and then start to close the group in front of me. But I ran a bit wide in Turn 10 and lost time, so then I had to recover the gap again. I gave 110% during the race, so in the last 3 laps the tyres were really worn and I was struggling with movement. 8th position is a bit far from my target, but in any case it’s not bad. Aragón is quite a good track for me, with some good memories, so I hope for a better race there.”
GP of San Marino – Race Classification:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 42’05.426
2. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team +2.822
3. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +7.269
4. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +14.687
5. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +16.016
6. Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team +17.408
7. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +19.086
8. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +21.804
9. Alvaro BAUTISTA Angel Nieto Team +23.919
10. Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +27.559
11. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing +30.698
12. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +32.941
13. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +33.461
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +35.686
15. Michele PIRRO Ducati Team +35.812
16. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +46.500
17. Jorge LORENZO Ducati Team +46.614
18. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +50.593
19. Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +55.168
20. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team +1’02.255
21. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +1’09.475
22. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +1’12.608
23. Christophe PONSSON Reale Avintia Racing 1 Lap
Not Classified
6 Stefan BRADL HRC Honda Team
44 Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
10 Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing
MotoGP World Standings 2018:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 221
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 154
3. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 151
4. Jorge LORENZO Ducati 130
5. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 124
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 119
7. Johann ZARCO Yamaha 110
8. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 110
9. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 92
10. Alex RINS Suzuki 79
11. Dani PEDROSA Honda 76
12. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati 64
13. Jack MILLER Ducati 61
14. Tito RABAT Ducati 35
15. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 32
16. Franco MORBIDELLI Honda 26
17. Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha 24
18. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 19
19. Bradley SMITH KTM 15
20. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 14
21. Scott REDDING Aprilia 12
22. Mika KALLIO KTM 6
23. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 4
24. Michele PIRRO Ducati 1
25. Thomas LUTHI Honda
26. Stefan BRADL Honda
27. Xavier SIMEON Ducati
28. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki
29. Christophe PONSSON Ducati
Story issued by: Team SUZUKI ECSTAR.
