Team Suzuki Press Office – June 30.

Alex Rins: P19 – 1’22.642 +1.043 (combined)
Andrea Iannone: P24 – 1’23.299 +1.700 (combined)

The Sachsenring circuit in Germany welcomed Team SUZUKI ECSTAR with a tough day, with both riders struggling to find a good setup to perform well. The combined classification reflects the morning session, as it was the only one raced in dry conditions, and sees Alex Rins in 19th place with his best lap of 1’22.64 and Andrea Iannone in 24th place with 1’23.299.

The dry weather in the morning allowed Rins to get back on his bike and look to regain his feel for the MotoGP machine. He was able to consistently improve his lap time and start working on the setup. In the afternoon, in heavy rain, he was able to improve his riding skills in wet conditions, which is valuable in the process of his development.

Iannone is still dealing with some difficulties in finding a good feel with the bike, especially when it comes to braking. This is preventing him from pushing the bike as hard as he would like, and the good lap times that should follow. He had a crash in the morning, which luckily did not result with any physical consequences.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We arrived in Sachsenring and we are facing some unexpected difficulties because Andrea had a lot of problems in braking. He is struggling to stop the bike and this issue created a lot of problems. We don’t have big issues in going through the corners, cornering speed, or acceleration, but the braking creates a lot of problems both in wet and dry conditions. We will keep pushing forward and working to resolve this problem and hopefully tomorrow we will improve. Andrea does not have the confidence and can’t push the bike enough; the lap time does not come by itself. On the other hand, Alex was not too bad because it is just Friday, the first day. The dry conditions were not bad for him. On wet surfaces he kept calm and was cautious. He is improving step by step, and in case of rain, it will prove to be a good challenge. This evening we will work hard to deal with the situation and we hope to make considerable improvement by tomorrow.”

Alex Rins
“It’s been complicated to get here and ride first on a dry track and then on wet one. Anyway, I am enjoying the positive vibes I got this morning with the dry setup. I felt good about the bike and we managed to improve the feel a little, and start to make some modifications. If I had more time on a dry track, I’d probably improved the lap time, as we had already come up with a couple of ideas that could make us perform better. Anyway it was also good to test out the bike in wet conditions, just in case the race is rainy. For the moment I am pretty satisfied. Let’s hope for a more stable weather tomorrow.”

Andrea Iannone
“Sincerely, I faced too many difficulties today, and the timesheets spoke for themselves. I struggled a lot and I hope to change something radically for tomorrow morning and be able to take some steps forward because obviously I don’t like to be in this situation at all. Getting nervous it’s not best way to solve the problems, so we need to work to understand what’s happening. We have to face the situation, move forward together with my team, my people, and the bike and try to improve. I’m struggling a lot to brake on the bike and we need to figure out this issue.”

GP of Germany – Combined classification after FP2:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1’21.599
2. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’21.637 0.038
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1’21.789 0.190
4. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’21.832 0.233
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’21.840 0.241
6. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1’21.898 0.299
7. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’21.973 0.374
8. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’21.992 0.393
9. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’22.068 0.469
10. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’22.075 +0.476
11. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’22.175 +0.576
12. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1’22.209 +0.610
13. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1’22.240 +0.641
14. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’22.336 +0.737
15. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’22.465 +0.866
16. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’22.535 +0.936
17. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’22.593 +0.994
18. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’22.612 +1.013
19. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’22.642 +1.043
20. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’22.745 +1.146
21. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’22.888 +1.289
22. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’22.989 +1.390
23. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’23.218 +1.619
24. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’23.299 +1.700