Team Suzuki Press Office – October 4.
RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS:
Alex Rins: 4th
Joan Mir: 8th
Team Suzuki Ecstar were pleased to once again experience the unique atmosphere the USA offers ahead of lights out for round 15 of the World Championship; the ‘Americas GP’. The high temperatures, excited crowd, and a powerful rendition of the National Anthem all added to the buzz around COTA on the outskirts of Austin.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir managed rocket starts off the line with their GSX-RRs, and impressively pushed into fourth and sixth in the first corners. Both choosing the hard-soft tyre combination, the pair hoped to charge through the pack early in the 20 lap race. Rins was quick to place himself into podium contention as he moved third before the end of lap 1.
The leading pack was a decent size with the first half a dozen riders all running close together for the first seven or eight laps. But as the race progressed, gaps started to appear, and the Suzuki duo found themselves slipping a little. On the 10th lap, Rins was sixth and Mir seventh, but the dynamics of the race were constantly changing and both riders were keen to keep in contention.
Despite settling into a steady rhythm, Rins and Mir were still ready to do battle to secure the best positions possible. Rins passed Jack Miller to take fifth and with four laps left found himself in a comfortable space. Meanwhile Mir was closing in for sixth but a big battle with Miller and Enea Bastianini saw him finish in seventh; he was later demoted to eighth for a moment on the last lap that was deemed irresponsible. Rins made up one position on the last lap after Jorge Martin took a long lap penalty; this meant he was able to bring home a nice fourth.
Alex Rins:
“Today was a very difficult race for me, I struggled a lot, it was so hot and physically tough for everyone. Coming out of the slow corners I was losing time – I’m not sure if it was rear grip, or something in the set-up, but I struggled to accelerate out of the corners. But on the more flowing and faster corners I felt good and I was able to hold the speed and fight better. We chose the soft rear, like everybody else, because it seemed to be the best option to enter the fight with the same weapons. In the end it’s hard to tell whether another choice may have worked better, but I’m glad I was able to get fourth – it’s not so bad and I could bring home some nice points.”
Joan Mir:
“All race long I was trying to gain positions and make overtakes, but due to some issues with acceleration and traction I wasn’t really able to do it easily and I had to push really hard. I’m sorry for the touch with Jack (Miller) at the end of the race, I understand why he was angry, but it’s a shame I had a penalty because it was not a deliberate hit, of course. I hope in the future we can be more competitive, because I don’t want to be in these types of fights with another rider, I want everything to be clean and to be able to make passes more easily and battle with the lead group. Anyway, today I’m eighth and that’s just how it is. I’m ready to focus on Misano.”
Shinichi Sahara – Project Leader and Team Director:
“Both Alex and Joan gave 100% in today’s race. To be honest, we expected more in terms of results, but I know that they both managed the best they could in this difficult race, where the feeling with the bike and tyres wasn’t perfect. They kept fighting and it was a case of ‘damage limitation’ – just scoring as many points as possible. Overall the feeling with the bike was not bad for either rider, but this race was extremely demanding. We’re looking forward to the next races.”
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“It was good that both riders could finish, and not in bad positions, but we wanted more. We weren’t able to fight for the podium here today, which was a pity, especially given our past performances at COTA. Our competitors were very strong and our riders gave everything to bring home decent finishes, but it’s clear that we need to continue working. We’ll keep our heads down and push for the remaining rounds.”
RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS – Race Classification:
1. M. MARQUEZ – Repsol Honda Team – 41:41.435
2. F. QUARTARARO – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +04.679
3. F. BAGNAIA – Ducati Lenovo Team +08.547
4. A. RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +11.098
5. J. MARTIN – Pramac Racing +11.752
6. E. BASTIANINI – Avintia Esponsorama +13.269
7. J. MILLER – Ducati Lenovo Team +14.722
8. J. MIR – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +13.406
9. B. BINDER – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +15.832
10. P. ESPARGARO – Repsol Honda Team +20.265
11. M. OLIVEIRA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +23.055
12. A. MARQUEZ – LCR Honda CASTROL +24.743
13. A. DOVIZIOSO – Petronas Yamaha SRT +25.307
14. L. MARINI – SKY VR46 Avintia +26.853
15. V. ROSSI – Petronas Yamaha SRT +28.055
16. I. LECUONA – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +30.989
17. T. NAKAGAMI – LCR Honda IDEMITSU +35.251
18. D. PETRUCCI – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +42.239
19. F. MORBIDELLI – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +49.854
Not Classified:
A. ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 16:52.472 – 9 laps
J. ZARCO – Pramac Racing – 11:18.801 – 5 laps
RIDERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 254
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 202
3 Joan MIR Suzuki 175
4 Jack MILLER Ducati 149
5 Johann ZARCO Ducati 141
6 Brad BINDER KTM 131
7 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 117
8 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 104
9 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia 98
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 92
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati 82
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 81
13 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati 71
14 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 70
15 Pol ESPARGARO Honda 70
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 54
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati 30
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 29
22 Stefan BRADL Honda 13
23 Michele PIRRO Ducati 8
24 Dani PEDROSA KTM 6
25 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 4
26 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha 3
27 Tito RABAT Ducati 1
28 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha
29 Garrett GERLOFF Yamaha
30 Jake DIXON Yamaha
