Team Suzuki Press Office – March 2nd.
Andrea Iannone: 1st – 1:54.586
Alex Rins: 5th – 1:54.967 (+ 0.381)
• Blistering pace from Andrea Iannone at the top.
• Consistency and confidence continues for Alex Rins.
• Team begin to switch focus onto race set-up.
Although rain spots in the early afternoon caused difficulty for all the riders at the beginning of Day 2 in Qatar, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR pushed on with their hard work and both riders were able to complete a very successful day.
After concentrating on confirming the efficacy and feel of new components on the opening day at Losail International Circuit, the focus on the second day shifted to race set-up ahead of the first Grand Prix of the season on March 18th.
While focusing mainly on finding base race settings, Andrea Iannone was able to string together a run of 15 highly consistent and quick laps. The Italian confirmed the fast pace he showed on the first day, and was once again the strongest rider through sector T2 and T4. All of this, combined with a boost in confidence and a comfortable feeling with the bike, earned him the fastest time of the day and he ended the session on the top of the time sheet with a 1:54.586.
Meanwhile Alex Rins put in several laps on used tyres and spent most of the day working on his base race set-up. He enjoyed the same positive feelings felt on the first day of the Qatar test, and was again able to prove his promising pace, finishing 5th overall – just +0.381 seconds behind his team-mate.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Today we can say that we worked more with the race in mind – thinking about race preparation. Of course it’s very nice that Andrea made a great lap at the end of the session, and it’s always nice to be on the top! Both Andrea and Alex were in the Top 5, and this is a good sign. The riders did many laps with good pace, so we are happy about that. We’ll try to finish well tomorrow, with some long runs, and I hope we’ll be ready…it looks like we’re in good shape at the moment and we will continue to work hard.”
Andrea Iannone
“Here, since yesterday, the bike has given me a good feeling. I am able to ride more and more with my usual style, and we struggle less where we don’t have hard braking. Today I completed a short race simulation and it was quite positive, we still have some room to improve but the team and Suzuki are doing a good job. We’ve taken all the information from the first two tests and tried to build a competitive bike. So far I’m very happy with how things are going here in Qatar!”
Alex Rins
“For me this second day was really good, we didn’t have new things to test, we’ve just been focused on finalizing the GSX-RR for the race pace. We tried small things on the suspension, but not too much. I think it was really positive because our pace was very good over more than one lap. Tomorrow I’ll try to do a race simulation to see where we are ‘in reality’.”
Info.
Circuit: Losail International Circuit, Qatar
Air temperature: 20°C
Track temperature: 21°C
Humidity: 70%
QATAR TEST – Classification after Day 2;
1. IANNONE, Andrea Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:54.586 45 / 45
2. DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 1:54.627 0.041 0.041 33 / 41
3. MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:54.753 0.167 0.126 58 / 59
4. ZARCO, Johann Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:54.874 0.288 0.121 27 / 49
5. RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:54.967 0.381 0.093 39 / 41
6. CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 1:54.992 0.406 0.025 20 / 51
7. VIÑALES, Maverick Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:55.051 0.465 0.059 51 / 52
8. PETRUCCI, Danilo Alma Pramac Racing 1:55.188 0.602 0.137 17 / 30
9. MILLER, Jack Alma Pramac Racing 1:55.236 0.650 0.048 44 / 47
10. PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 1:55.282 0.696 0.046 21 / 35
11. ROSSI, Valentino Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:55.316 0.730 0.034 30 / 45
12. ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.460 0.874 0.144 36 / 47
13. NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:55.539 0.953 0.079 58 / 61
14. LORENZO, Jorge Ducati Team 1:55.562 0.976 0.023 30 / 53
15. REDDING, Scott Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.708 1.122 0.146 35 / 57
16. SMITH, Bradley Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:55.798 1.212 0.090 37 / 49
17. RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1:55.875 1.289 0.077 44 / 61
18. ABRAHAM, Karel Ángel Nieto Team 1:55.876 1.290 0.001 10 / 37
19. MORBIDELLI, Franco EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:56.074 1.488 0.198 48 / 55
20. BAUTISTA, Alvaro Ángel Nieto Team 1:56.104 1.518 0.030 25 / 70
21. SYAHRIN, Hafizh Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:56.263 1.677 0.159 31 / 46
22. LUTHI, Thomas EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:56.295 1.709 0.032 27 / 38
23. SIMEON, Xavier Reale Avintia Racing 1:56.795 2.209 0.500 29 / 46
24. KALLIO, Mika Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:57.218 2.632 0.423 50 / 56
Story issued by: Team SUZUKI ECSTAR.
