Team Suzuki Press Office – November 4
Alex Rins: 11th – 1’30.707 (+ 0.490)
Joan Mir: 14th – 1’31.004 (+ 0.787)
The riders were greeted with November sunshine at the Ricardo Tormo circuit on Friday, although a stiff breeze was keeping the Valencian track from absolutely optimum conditions.
FP1 ran smoothly for Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Joan Mir, with the former getting up to speed quickly, slotting into the Top 3 in the opening minutes of the session. The Spanish rider felt comfortable on track and closed the morning session in fifth place.
Mir also built up his pace, taking time to find settings and putting in the laps. At the flag he was 10th.
In the afternoon, conditions were a bit trickier despite the increase in temperature. Several crashes were seen in the first half of the session, and Rins and Mir didn’t manage to find quite the same feelings as the morning. Despite being close to the top in terms of time, at only around half a second off, they finished 11th and 14th respectively.
Alex Rins:
“It was very windy today, which is actually quite annoying when you’re trying to ride. Our aerodynamic packages are very advanced, but in the wind it’s a strange feeling. But I managed to build a good pace and rhythm today, so I’m quite pleased with this progress for Friday and let’s continue like this.”
Joan Mir:
“Today was more difficult than I expected, quite a tricky one. I struggled a bit to stop the bike, which is a problem I’ve had before, but here it felt worse. In general I didn’t feel that comfortable, and we found that was the case especially with the medium compound tyres. But we started to find solutions in FP2, and I was able to improve my lap time by half a second. So, anyway, we’re staying optimistic, and we’ll work tonight and tomorrow to find the best settings. The pace is fast out there for the first day, so let’s improve.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“Not a bad day, not an amazing day. It’s been a steady start for us, and despite the positions not looking that great on paper, both our riders actually have good pace. Alex found a nice rhythm early on, and he feels good on race configuration. Joan struggled a bit more but we worked on some areas and now he’s feeling better.”
GRAND PRIX OF VALENCIA DAY 1 CLASSIFICATION:
1 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’30.217
2 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 1’30.322 0.105 0.105
3 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1’30.345 0.128 0.023
4 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’30.390 0.173 0.045
5 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 1’30.394 0.177 0.004
6 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’30.422 0.205 0.028
7 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 1’30.424 0.207 0.002
8 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’30.442 0.225 0.018
9 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1’30.447 0.230 0.005
10 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’30.519 0.302 0.072
11 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’30.707 0.490 0.188
12 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1’30.814 0.597 0.107
13 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1’30.890 0.673 0.076
14 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’31.004 0.787 0.114
15 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1’31.014 0.797 0.010
16 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’31.016 0.799 0.002
17 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1’31.148 0.931 0.132
18 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 1’31.249 1.032 0.101
19 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1’31.345 1.128 0.096
20 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1’31.598 1.381 0.253
21 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1’31.621 1.404 0.023
22 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’31.672 1.455 0.051
23 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 1’31.762 1.545 0.090
24 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1’32.420 2.203 0.658
