Team Suzuki Press Office – June 10.
Andrea Iannone: 12th – 1’44.928 / +1.058
Sylvain Guintoli: 22nd – 1’45.912 / FP3
Qualifying day at the Catalan GP circuit did not go as well as was expected by Team SUZUKI ECSTAR. Andrea Iannone struggled to fully take advantage of the Q2 session and ended in 12th place, while his teammate Sylvain Guintoli was not able to take part in the Q1 due to health problems.
Today’s practice sessions took place with a different layout to the circuit compared to yesterday. The Safety Commission decided to abandon the new layout of the chicanes (corners 14 and 15) and go back to the 2016 layout, after a request from the riders. As a result, only the FP3 session of this morning counted to determine the access to Q1 and Q2.
In these conditions Iannone performed well in the morning and got the 1’44.656 that allowed him direct access to Q2, having achieved the 7th best time.
More troubles for Sylvain Guintoli, who couldn’t take part in the Q1 session due to some physical problems: An adverse reaction to a standard medication made him weak and the Team took the decision not to take any risks, giving him time to recover without lapping for the grid place.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We couldn’t make to most of today, as we wanted to in the Q2 with Andrea. He made positive improvements and we thought we would have a better performance, but in the end we couldn’t do better than the fourth row. It’s not the ideal position, but the race will be long and we’ll try to do our best. Unfortunately Sylvain couldn’t even take part to the Q1: he had a standard medical treatment right before FP4, which triggered an adverse reaction that made him feel poorly, so we decided not to take any risks and to allow him to rest, in order to be ready and fit for tomorrow’s race. It´s going to be a tough one, very long and hot, and we still have some question marks; I believe our competitors do as well. We’re going to try to make some improvements in warm-up and recover as many positions as we can.”
Andrea Iannone
“Overall I am satisfied with today. It’s a shame for the qualifying because in FP3 I lapped faster than in qualifying, but the conditions were different. With these hot temperatures, we lost grip at the front, despite what we gained at the rear. The problem is that getting more grip in the rear means that it pushes harder to the front, so I lose some confidence when entering the corners. However my feeling is positive, but the race will be very tough because it´s going to be long and hot. I think we have a good chance for a positive performance in the first half, and then everything will depend on the tyre drop. It will be important to preserve tyres for the end of the race, but I also want to make up some positions.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“It’s a pity that I wasn´t able to take part in the qualifying, as we made solid improvements in the sessions and I felt positive of a good performance. I went for a painkiller treatment to my arm, right before the FP4, which is a procedure I have done times in the past, but unfortunately something went wrong and had an unexpected reaction to the medication. This caused me to feel very dizzy and together with the team we decided not run in qualifying. I’m now already recovering and I hope I will be ok for tomorrow.”
GP of Catalunya – Qualifying classification:
1. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1’43.870
2. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1’44.201 / +0.331
3. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’44.220 / +0.350
4. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1’44.320 / +0.450
5. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’44.348 / +0.478
6. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’44.381 / +0.511
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1’44.451 / +0.581
8. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’44.600 / +0.730
9. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’44.620 / +0.750
10. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’44.740 / +0.870
11. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’44.852 / + 0.982
12. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’44.928 / +1.058
13. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’44.661 Q1
14. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’44.681 Q1
15. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’44.829 Q1
16. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’44.919 Q1
17. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1’45.162 Q1
18. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’45.641 Q1
19. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’45.741 Q1
20. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’45.887 Q1
21. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’48.803 Q1
22. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’45.912 FP3
23. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’46.853 FP3
