Team Suzuki Press Office – September 10.
Alex Rins: 12th – 1’48.267 (+ 0.654)
Joan Mir: 21st – 1’48.886 (+ 1.273)
Team Suzuki Ecstar arrived at Motorland Aragón in high spirits following a largely successful Silverstone two weeks ago, and great memories from this Spanish track one year ago. However, it was not a straight forward start for the GSX-RR riders as they struggled to get up to speed on Friday afternoon, and they instead opted to work on race settings.
The morning’s FP1 session at the scorching Spanish circuit proved positive for Joan Mir, who placed himself in second place early on. He held this position for the vast majority of the session, and even when he briefly got bumped down the order he was quick to reclaim the spot. He was also second fastest in three out of the four track sectors, which was a promising sign. Alex Rins was also inside the Top five in the morning session before he began work on set-up and slipped to 14th.
The temperatures rose sharply in FP2, but the times continued to come down. Rins and Mir both kept themselves inside the all-important Top 10 initially. But despite feeling largely comfortable with their bikes, the pair failed to bag provisional Q2 passage as they continued with race settings. Rins finished 12th and Mir 21st.
Alex Rins:
“In FP2 I focused on race set-up, I tried hard and medium tyres and I was checking everything ahead of race day. I didn’t do a proper time attack, even if I had some good laps. I feel comfortable so far and my main target now is to get into Q2 tomorrow. I will push in FP3 and see where I can end up. The team and I will analyse which will be the best tyre choice for the race, because at the moment they feel quite similar. But in the end it’s only Friday and we have time to get prepared for Sunday.”
Joan Mir:
“Here there’s a huge difference between putting on a new tyre or a used one. I decided to do FP2 with the race tyre and not the soft one, because I wanted to understand the true feeling with the bike and to get prepared for the race. This afternoon it looks like I’m really far from the top, but in reality I’m not worried because I wasn’t pushing for a fast lap. Tomorrow the times will come down further and everything will get faster, so it will be interesting to see what we can do. I will be trying the soft tyres for sure, but of course you can’t just put that tyre on and go fast, it’s more important to work on the overall set-up.”
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“Last year here in Aragón both Alex and Joan did a really good job and they achieved great results – so we were optimistic when we arrived, because we know they both enjoy this track. Today’s positions aren’t good but the focus hasn’t been on pushing. We’ll be studying the data tonight and working to find the best solutions to be better prepared for tomorrow’s sessions and get the riders higher up the order.”
GRAN PREMIO TISSOT DE ARAGÓN – Combined Classification after DAY1:
1. J. MILLER – Ducati Lenovo Team – 01:47.613
2. A. ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 01:47.886 – +0.273
3. C. CRUTCHLOW – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – 01:47.897 – +0.284
4. J. ZARCO – Pramac Racing – 01:47.988 – +0.375
5. J. MARTIN – Pramac Racing – 01:48.023 – +0.410
6. F. BAGNAIA – Ducati Lenovo Team – 01:48.032 – +0.419
7. F. QUARTARARO – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – 01:48.034 – +0.421
8. M. MARQUEZ – Repsol Honda Team – 01:48.048 – +
9. T. NAKAGAMI – LCR Honda IDEMITSU – 01:48.057 – +0.444
10. E. BASTIANINI – Avintia Esponsorama – 01:48.086 – +0.473
11. P. ESPARGARO – Repsol Honda Team – 01:48.166 – +0.553
12. A. RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 01:48.267 – +0.654
13. B. BINDER – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 01:48.278 – +0.665
14. A. MARQUEZ – LCR Honda CASTROL – 01:48.314 – +0.701
15. D. PETRUCCI – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing – 01:48.351 – +0.738
16. L. MARINI – SKY VR46 Avintia – 01:48.456 – +0.843
17. I. LECUONA – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing – 01:48.526 – +0.913
18. M. OLIVEIRA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 01:48.623 – +1.010
19. V. ROSSI – Petronas Yamaha SRT – 01:48.649 – +1.036
20. M. VIÑALES – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 01:48.755 – +1.142
21. J. MIR – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 01:48.886 – +1.273
22. J. DIXON – Petronas Yamaha SRT – 01:49.987 – +2.374
