Team Suzuki Press Office – June 25.
Alex Rins: 9th – 1’32.307 (+ 0.803)
Joan Mir: 14th – Q1
Saturday in Assen remained dry for all the top class sessions allowing the riders to get to grips with the Dutch circuit in the dry ahead of an unpredictable Grand Prix on Sunday.
Alex Rins did a remarkable job on the physically demanding track, taking ninth spot on the grid, while Joan Mir just missed out on a Q2 spot following a crash, and will start 14th.
Both Suzuki mounted riders were within the Top 10 until the final few minutes of the FP3 session when several yellow flags impacted the last flying laps. Rins was able to put in a great lap to get third and secure direct passage to Q2, while Mir narrowly missed out by just 0.037 in 11th. A dry FP4 proved useful for the duo, and they collected helpful data should the race be dry tomorrow.
Mir gave his all in Q1, even remounting and continuing to push directly after a slow speed crash that he nearly saved at Turn 5. The Mallorcan closed the session in fourth, which will mean a 14th place start for the 26 lap race.
The final track action of the day, Q2, saw Rins slightly hampered by a yellow flag when he lost a flying lap, but he still managed to set his fastest lap of the weekend to secure a third row start with ninth.
Alex Rins:
“Overall it was a good day, my pace was nice and FP3 especially went really well for me. I feel that we have a good bike for tomorrow’s race, I feel pretty comfortable, and now we need to see what the weather will do. Our race is the last of the day, so maybe there’s more chance of some rain, but we’ll have to deal with whatever comes. I’m not feeling much pain this weekend, which is good, so I want to choose my tyre wisely and go for a good result.”
Joan Mir:
“It’s been quite a difficult day, I got caught out with some yellow flags during FP3 and then I had to go through Q1. Unfortunately, I crashed during my second exit, so it turned out to be a tough session. I kept going instead of pitting in because, luckily, I was able to restart the bike, and I didn’t want to lose time. I finished the session, but not where I wanted to be. I did have some flashes of performance today in the dry, and I think I can do something if the race is dry. I don’t think I have podium pace, but I’ll aim for the highest finish possible.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“Once again we appear to have pretty good race pace, but we haven’t managed to get that ‘one lap’ pace in qualifying. Alex did a good job to get into Q2 despite his injury, and Joan was very close to getting through too. It will be interesting to see what the weather is like tomorrow; it can be very variable and changeable here, and that can mix everything up. However, our aim is to have a good race before the break and that’s what we’ll push for.”
GRAND PRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION:
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1’31.504
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’31.620 0.116 0.116
3 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 1’31.708 0.204 0.088
4 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’31.796 0.292 0.088
5 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1’31.868 0.364 0.072
6 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1’32.124 0.620 0.256
7 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 1’32.175 0.671 0.051
8 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’32.272 0.768 0.097
9 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’32.307 0.803 0.035
10 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’32.367 0.863 0.060
11 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1’32.424 0.920 0.057
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’32.967 1.463 0.543
13 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team Q1
14 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Q1
15 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP Q1
16 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP Q1
17 Andrea DOVIZIOSO WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Q1
18 Stefan BRADL Repsol Honda Team Q1
19 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Q1
20 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Q1
21 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL Q1
22 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia Racing Q1
23 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Q1
24 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Q1
