Team Suzuki Press Office – July 2.

Alex Rins: P21 / +1’01.695
Andrea Iannone: NC

An unlucky race saw Team SUZUKI ECSTAR out of the points at the German GP, with Alex Rins in 21st position at the chequered flag and Andrea Iannone crashed out with only 6 laps to go.

The morning’s warm-up session saw both Iannone and Rins feeling good on their bikes and lap with a comfortable pace close to the top ten. Improvements made to the GSX-RR’s had allowed the Italian to end the session in 13th place with 1’22.368 while the young Spaniard followed in 15th with 1’22.386.

A good start for Iannone gave him the spark to overtake other riders and gain a better position in the first lap. He then let those feelings carry him into to a pace nearly as fast as the race leader, closing in on the top ten. The quick pace continued with some overtaking and some being overtaken, until lap 25 when he lost control of the front of his GSX-RR, finishing his German GP in the gravel.

It was a positive start for Alex Rins as well, who managed to advance by five places in the first seven laps, before having to give up on the pace due to the drop in tyre performance. His determination allowed him to make up some of the gap he left in lap 8, although unable to end the race better than 21st.

The Team and riders will now take a one month break before the Czech GP (5th August) which will allow them to rest. They will also revise data and work on development as they get ready for the second half of the season.

Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“I’m very sorry for today’s result, because during this weekend we were able to take some positive steps that made us hopeful of a better end to the race. With Andrea, we took one more step with the setup that gave him a consistent lap time until the middle of the race. It wasn’t bad at all and not so far off the top six, but unfortunately he had a crash. We will look into the data and prepare for the restart in Brno. Alex had a positive weekend as he was able to learn a lot. The conditions were difficult and he made some little mistakes due to his inexperience. He still needs to spend as much time as much as possible on the GSX-RR, this is why we stay positive and continue with his gradual development.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Despite Andrea’s crash, I think this weekend has been more positive than what the final result suggests. We had to start from behind and we suffered in yesterday’s weather. Andrea had a good pace; he was able to push the bike and lapped with the same time as the riders that were far ahead of him. To maintain this level of performance he had to push to the limit and this is why he crashed. Until that moment his race was positive, and it is something that can happen. Alex struggled with tyre management. When their performance lowered, the bike started to slide and he couldn’t maintain the pace. At the beginning of the race he had a good start and recovered many positions. His pace was fast, but then he had to give up pushing too hard. He had pretty a tough comeback as he found himself in two very complicated weekends, in Assen and here, with mixed weather that required him to learn quickly to manage the situations. He did very well and we took important steps in his apprentice process. Now we will seize the opportunity during summer brake to let our minds calm down and re-analyse data from different perspectives, in order to comeback in Brno hopefully more competitive and effective.”

Andrea Iannone
“I’m very happy about this race – of course not for the result, but because of the progress that we’ve made. We took an important step forward during the weekend. I got my confidence back. I have a better feel for the bike and finally I can push it more or less as I want.” We started from behind in the grid and that affected the whole race. Apart from that, the first three laps I struggled with rear grip, but then I managed to keep pace with the second group. I tried to push hard to recover, but I crashed. However, until that point my times were good as was my satisfaction with the bike.”

Alex Rins
“The result is not a good one, but we can take away some positive things from this race. In the first part I maintained a good position and my pace was pretty consistent. Then unfortunately I ran off the track losing a lot of time, and then the drop of the rear grip didn’t give us a chance to catch up, since I couldn’t follow the lines I would have liked. To me this was one more race to learn from. On the positive side, in dry conditions in practice I was able make considerable progress. In these two races I was feeling ok with the hand, but I can’t say I was at 100%, so I will take advantage of this one month break to train well and get prepared for the race in the Czech Republic.”

GP of Germany – Final race result:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 40’59.525
2. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – +3.310
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – +11.546
4. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – +14.253
5. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – +14.980
6. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – +16.534
7. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – +19.736
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – +20.188
9. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – +21.138
10. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – +24.210
11. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – +25.659
12. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – +31.540
13. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +32.179
14. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +36.453
15. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – +37.771
16. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +37.852
17. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – +39.323
18. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – +41.190
19. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – +59.850
20. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – +1’01.664
21. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +1’01.695
Not Classified
Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 6 Laps
Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 18 Laps
Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 0 Lap

MotoGP World Standing 2017 after the German GP:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Honda – 129
2. Maverick VIÑALES, Yamaha – 124
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati – 123
4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha – 119
5. Dani PEDROSA, Honda – 103
6. Johann ZARCO, Yamaha – 84
7. Jonas FOLGER, Yamaha – 71
8. Danilo PETRUCCI, Ducati – 66
9. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati – 65
10. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Honda – 64
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Ducati – 44
12. Jack MILLER, Honda – 41
13. Scott REDDING, Ducati – 33
14. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia – 32
15. Loris BAZ, Ducati – 31
16. Andrea IANNONE, Suzuki – 28
17. Tito RABAT, Honda – 23
18. Hector BARBERA, Ducati – 21
19. Karel ABRAHAM, Ducati – 20
20. Pol ESPARGARO, KTM – 14
21. Bradley SMITH, KTM – 8
22. Alex RINS, Suzuki – 7
23. Michele PIRRO, Ducati – 7
24. Sam LOWES, Aprilia – 2
25. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Suzuki – 1

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