Team Suzuki Press Office – June 11.
Andrea Iannone: 16th – +43.221
Sylvain Guintoli: 17th – +44.655
The Catalan GP left a bitter taste in the mouths of Team SUZUKI ECSTAR, as both riders ended out of points and the result was below expectations. Andrea Iannone ended his race in 16th place, 43.221 seconds behind the winner, and Sylvain Guintoli finished right behind his teammate in 17th place.
The hot temperatures of today made the Montmelò circuit very slippery, and thereby making the setup finalization work for the engineers difficult. It also pushed the riding skills of the racers to the limit.
Iannone managed to have a positive warm-up, but then struggled in the race to find a solid, favourable pace. The lack of feel on the bike with the grip did not allow him to perform as was expected, ultimately resulting in a challenging race.
Guintoli was fully recovered after yesterday’s health problems, and was able to carry out a solid race. The Frenchman made productive progression throughout the race and managed to catch up with his teammate Iannone, although he could not definitively overtake him for the 16th position.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR will now stay in Barcelona for two days of testing: the scheduled IRTA test with all MotoGP Teams on Monday, and a private test on Tuesday. Alex Rins is coming back on his #42 GSX-RR to test his recovery from the injury he suffered in Austin. He will be paired with Andrea Iannone in the MotoGP Team garage, while Sylvain Guintoli will stay to further contribute to the development while supported by the Test Crew that has come from Japan.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“With these hot conditions we were expecting a tough race, but honestly I didn’t expect such a bad result. In these conditions the grip drops very fast and our bikes´ performances were not the best. This is our current situation, unfortunately. We have two testing days with many parts to try, so we intend to learn from this result and improve putting in maximum effort. To Sylvain I want to express my deep appreciation. He did a very good job. He came to us humble and willing to help, and despite his limited experience with our machine and work group, he was able to complete all the races and – most important – give us very useful feedback for the development of the bike. This is exactly what we expected when we called him to step in for Rins. Once again, thank you Sylvain and good luck in your return to BSB.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We are very disappointed by this result. We certainly knew this would be a tough weekend, as the grip here is low and consequently the bike’s setup is very difficult, but honestly speaking I couldn’t expect such a bad result. Andrea struggled throughout the whole race; he couldn’t ride like he wanted, and so he couldn’t get better than 16th. Guintoli’s work was very positive, he lapped consistently with a good pace, and we are happy for what he has done, considering the circumstances. He also gave us precise comments and useful feedback which we will take advantage of to improve. Now we have two days of testing here, tomorrow and Tuesday. We have many areas to test and some of them are also pretty important and we want to work on.”
Andrea Iannone
“We are having a difficult time. We know it. Some races we are better, some others are worse. The only thing we can do is to keep on working. We have two testing days here and we will try to do our best. Today’s race was hard from the beginning; I had no grip at all, both at the front and the back, so it was complicated. I couldn’t push it any harder, because I always felt like I was already at the limit. I tried to manage the situation without crashing, but the result was below our expectations and also our potential.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“This race it was difficult for me to get into a rhythm. The track temperature was incredibly high, making the track very slippery. At mid-race I found a confident pace which allowed me to overtake some riders, and also fight with some of the other guys, including my teammate Andrea. It was a good feeling. Then the grip really dropped off and I had to give up. Overall, after the problems I had yesterday, it was a good race. I want to thank Suzuki for this opportunity. It was great to ride this fantastic bike; I had a blast. In my opinion we did a lot better than I expected. I thought it would be much harder to get acquainted with how the bike would perform. The team also gave me lot of confidence; we made excellent progress in only three races. It has been an amazing experience. ”
GP of Catalunya – Final result of the race:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 44’41.518
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 3.544
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 6.774
4. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 9.608
5. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 13.838
6. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 13.921
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 16.763
8. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 20.821
9. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 23.952
10. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 24.189
11. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 28.329
12. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 33.281
13. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 35.200
14. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 39.436
15. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 40.872
16. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 43.221
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 44.655
18. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 48.993
19. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 55.492
MotoGP World Standing 2017 after the GP of Catalunya
1. Maverick VIÑALES, Yamaha – 111
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati – 104
3. Marc MARQUEZ, Honda – 88
4. Dani PEDROSA, Honda – 84
5. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha – 83
6. Johann ZARCO, Yamaha – 75
7. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati – 59
8. Jonas FOLGER, Yamaha – 51
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Honda – 45
10. Danilo PETRUCCI, Ducati – 42
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Ducati – 34
12. Scott REDDING, Ducati – 33
13. Jack MILLER, Honda – 30
14. Loris BAZ, Ducati – 23
15. Andrea IANNONE, Suzuki – 21
16. Hector BARBERA Ducati – 21
17. Tito RABAT, Honda – 19
18. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia – 17
19. Karel ABRAHAM, Ducati – 11
20. Michele PIRRO, Ducati – 7
21. Alex RINS, Suzuki – 7
22. Pol ESPARGARO, KTM – 6
23. Bradley SMITH, KTM – 6
24. Sam LOWES, Aprilia – 2
25. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Suzuki – 1
