Team Suzuki Press Office – October 15.
Alex Rins: 10th – 1’28.541 (+ 0.774)
Joan Mir: 14th – Q1
Phillip Island warmed up for the second day of action, with times dropping and action building. Alex Rins and Joan Mir, though not qualifying as high as they’d like, are 100% focused on enjoying a good race at the iconic track tomorrow.
Saturday morning’s FP3 session saw very few improvements initially, but it predictably became highly competitive in the closing moments. Despite Mir and Rins posting times just 0.458 and 0.682 off respectively, they finished 12th and 17th, missing direct passage to Q2.
Both Suzuki riders remained on form into Q1, pushing hard to get into the all-important first two places. Mir, still recovering from his ankle injury, dropped his pace impressively in his first exit, but his second exit was disrupted by a run-off. He took fifth at close of play. However, he was later promoted to fourth following a yellow flag penalty for another rider.
Rins worked very well in the intense last moments of Q1, going into second place with a strong lap time, and progressing to final qualifying.
During Q2 Rins got as high as fourth, but a traffic-filled second exit meant no further improvements and he dropped to 10th place. He still feels confident of a good result from this grid spot though.
Alex Rins:
“My day went OK. I’m pretty happy because we worked well during FP3 and FP4 to understand many things about the bike setup and tyre choice. I wanted to do better in qualifying, especially as I got into Q2 from Q1, but I just couldn’t get that ‘one lap attack’. The key thing is that my overall pace is pretty good, and I will give everything to get a good start and have a nice GP at this awesome track.”
Joan Mir:
“I’m a little bit disappointed because I expected a bit more from my qualifying, but I was alone on track, and without a tow it’s pretty difficult to improve because everyone is so close. Anyway, I do feel happy with my race pace – which is something really important – and I also feel good with my injury. All together I have confidence for tomorrow.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“Joan has done a really good job, especially considering he has been away from the bike for a month. He has nice race pace and he only missed out on Q2 by a very small amount. I think he can do a good job tomorrow, despite not being so high on the grid. Alex struggled a bit in FP4, but in Q1 he did very well and pushed through to Q2. All the times are very tight, and unfortunately Q2 didn’t work out as well for Alex in terms of lap time, but we know he’s great at coming through the pack. We hope to say farewell to Australia in a good way.”
GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRALIA QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION:
1 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 1’27.767
2 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’27.780 0.013 0.013
3 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1’27.953 0.186 0.173
4 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1’27.957 0.190 0.004
5 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’27.973 0.206 0.016
6 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 1’28.007 0.240 0.034
7 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’28.029 0.262 0.022
8 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1’28.116 0.349 0.087
9 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’28.185 0.418 0.069
10 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’28.541 0.774 0.356
11 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1’28.733 0.966 0.192
12 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1’28.765 0.998 0.032
13 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team Q1
14 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Q1
15 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP Q1
16 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Q1
17 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Q1
18 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Q1
19 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Q1
20 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP Q1
21 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Q1
22 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing Q1
23 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Q1
24 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA LCR Honda IDEMITSU Q1
