Team Suzuki Press Office – October 17.
The GP of Japan will be the next race for Team SUZUKI ECSTAR, arriving with Sylvain Guintoli as a Wild Card rider to complete the Suzuki squad alongside Factory riders Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins.
The race will be a sort of home one for the Team, being that the headquarters are based not very far from the circuit. A lot of workers from the Factory will be present to give full support to the racing team, and it’s also a good chance for the Factory engineers to touch the bikes with their own hands and be more closely involved with the work done at the races.
The circuit is expected to be a positive one for the GSX-RR, especially given the results obtained in the last few years here. The 4th and 5th places, close to the podium, taken last year by Iannone and Rins together with the strong results reached in recent races are good signs of a positive weekend ahead, which is something also felt by the riders.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“It’s very nice to go to Motegi because we will get the warmth of many Japanese fans and the support of our many engineers and colleagues from the Factory. We arrive here during quite a positive moment; we’ve lost the concessions, we got five podiums, and in the latest races we’ve been consistently in the top six with fierce battles near the front. This makes me hope that with further improvements we can get even closer to the top. In Japan we will also benefit from having Sylvain Guintoli, who will race as a Wild Card. We will try our best to make all our Japanese supporters, colleagues, and management happy with a good weekend.”
Andrea Iannone
“I think Japan is an important race for us as it will be a home race, and we will have many fans coming to support us as well as people from the Factory. We expect a lot from this track, last year we had a really good weekend although the conditions were very different. Our performance lately has been very strong so I hope for a positive weekend..”
Alex Rins
“I arrive in Motegi with a lot of expectations due to it being Suzuki’s home Grand Prix. We had a good race there last year in rain conditions. I think our bike can show a strong performance on this circuit, it will be important to continue the positive trend that we’re having and also to have the support of the Factory will be a further push for us.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“It’s great to be back on the MotoGP grid in Motegi. I have some good memories from this track where I had my best MotoGP result. The testing and development programme is going very well so I’m keen to keep on pushing and to enjoy riding my GSX-RR.”
Circuit Info:
The GP of Japan will be raced on the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, a track that proved to be a positive one for the GSX-RR last year and is much appreciated by both Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins. It’s a modern facility located among the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district. It consists of a 2.4 km (1.5 mile) oval – meant to introduce American motorsport culture to the country – and a 4.8 km (2.9 mile) road course, where the MotoGP™ race will take place, over a total distance of 24 laps (115.2 km – 71.5 miles.) The track the riders will be racing on takes in six left-hand corners and eight right-hand ones.
2017 Stats
ANDREA IANNONE
Qualifying: 11th – 1’55.617 +2.148
Race: 4th – +18.845
ALEX RINS
Qualifying: 10th – 1’55.483 +2.014
Race: 5th – +22.982
Story Issued by: Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
