Team Suzuki Press Office – April 8.
Alex Rins: 5th – 2’03.030 (+ 0.488)
Joan Mir: 8th – 2’03.143 (+ 0.601)
Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders were happy to take to the track on Friday morning, returning to the well-liked Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin under sunny but windy skies.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir used FP1 to gauge the track conditions, with the circuit having been partially resurfaced since their last visit here in October 2021. The pair reported an improvement, with the infamous bumps lessened compared with last season. Rins had a setback with 20 minutes of the session left when his GSX-RR stopped on track with a minor issue that was fixed soon after. However, he was quickly back on track with the second bike and it cost him very little in the end; Rins was able to top FP1, also setting the fastest time through sectors 1 and 4. Mir finished the first session of the day in 11th.
In FP2 the pace was hotting up among the field, with the Top 12 covered by 1 second, and Suzuki’s riders felt ready to go for a time attack. Rins went for it earlier than usual, he had impressive speed and sailed to the top of the timesheets for a good part of the session. After following his plan, Rins closed Friday fifth on combined. Mir also had a successful time attack when he rocketed up to second place with four minutes to go. But after he lost a flying lap due to a run-off he was shuffled down the order to eighth on combined.
Alex Rins:
“Today was a good day and we put together a really nice FP2 session. We chose a different strategy today; putting in a fast lap early in the session and then working on race pace. I did around eight laps with strong pace, so that seemed to work well. Tomorrow I need to continue this work and check the medium tyre compound, and work on my final settings. But today has gone smoothly overall, and I’m pleased with my speed and the way the bike feels so far.”
Joan Mir:
“It was a positive day overall, we made some steps forward and we were able to be pretty strong and competitive, so I’m happy about that. This track is not an easy one, but the bumps are smaller and the surface is improved; it was really bad last year but now we’re more able to cope. We still need to make some improvements with the bike in order to boost my confidence further, but I felt that for a first day on track it’s not been bad. I’m in the Top 10 so far, we just need to work on the setup to try and stabilise the bike a little more ahead of qualifying and the race.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager:
“It was a good day for both our riders. The new surface seems to be an improvement compared with the past, and both Alex and Joan are looking good. We’ve done a lot of work today to prepare for the race, and the time attacks were also pretty quick. Tomorrow we’ll continue to work on the settings and the lap times, and I’m confident that both our riders can have a good weekend here.”
GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS DAY 1 CLASSIFICATION:
1 Johann ZARCO Pramac Racing 2’02.542
2 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 2’02.789 0.247 0.247
3 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 2’02.837 0.295 0.048
4 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 2’02.884 0.342 0.047
5 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 2’03.030 0.488 0.146
6 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 2’03.041 0.499 0.011
7 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 2’03.085 0.543 0.044
8 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 2’03.143 0.601 0.058
9 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 2’03.187 0.645 0.044
10 Jorge MARTIN Pramac Racing 2’03.355 0.813 0.168
11 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing APRILIA 2’03.370 0.828 0.015
12 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 2’03.438 0.896 0.068
13 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2’03.538 0.996 0.100
14 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 2’03.562 1.020 0.024
15 Andrea DOVIZIOSO WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP 2’03.706 1.164 0.144
16 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 2’03.795 1.253 0.089
17 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 2’04.074 1.532 0.279
18 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 2’04.367 1.825 0.293
19 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 2’04.463 1.921 0.096
20 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 2’04.535 1.993 0.072
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 2’04.664 2.122 0.129
22 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 2’04.679 2.137 0.015
23 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 2’04.770 2.228 0.091
24 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2’05.342 2.800 0.572
