Team Suzuki Press Office – Aug 13.

Andrea Iannone: 11th – +20.101
Alex Rins: 16th – +32.912

The Red Bull Ring’s tough circuit in Austria saw Andrea Iannone struggling to capitalize on the improvements made at the weekend for today’s race, and as a consequence finishing in 11th place. Team mate Alex Rins finished his race in 21st, taking important steps on his path of development.

The morning warm-up saw increased temperatures compared to previous days, and both riders busy finalizing their enhanced setups for the race. Both have been consistent in the race’s pace test, with Iannone in 12th place with 1’24.834 and Rins in 20th with 1’25.151.

In the race, both riders had a good start, but Rins had the bad luck of being hit by another rider at the very beginning of the first lap, so lost some time. He then set himself on a superb pace that allowed him to recover. He was able to reach 16th place, although not able to get into the points. Iannone hard fought in the early stages of the race to keep close to the leading pack, but as the race continued his pace slackened and he fell back a few places, until ending the race in 11th position.

Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“We stopped in Brno for a testing day after the race. Both riders tested new items that worked very well and this means we managed to improve. Then here in Austria, Andrea started well at the weekend, with direct access to Q2, tenth place in qualifying, and also the pace with race tyres was not so bad. We were expecting a better result from the race. Unfortunately, despite these improvements, the performance was not good enough. We also made important improvements this weekend. We have to continue working and hopefully we will get better results in the next race at Silverstone, where we won last year. About Alex, he’s been unlucky at the beginning of the race, but then he was able to carry out a solid race. I believe this has been an important experience for him as a young rider.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We knew this would not be an easy track for us and we were prepared for a tough race, but honestly after the previous day’s success we were expecting a better result. But to the contrary but we encountered some areas we have to improve when we believed we could be closer to the top of the board. It’s nothing new actually, and it’s something we are already working on. However, with Andrea we saw an improvement with his touch on the bike compared to previous races, which is positive. We couldn’t do better than 11th place, but I hope we are establishing the basis for further improvement in the near future. Alex unfortunately made contact with another rider at the first corner which caused him to lose time, but then he set a good pace. I believe this race has been very useful for him as a learning experience. The final position is what it is, but it’s been another step – important, I’d say – in his growth process. We are now looking forward to Silverstone, a nice track where last year were very, very competitive.”

Andrea Iannone
“To me this weekend has been positive, despite the final position not being satisfactory. We made some improvements and we lowered the gap. At many moments of the weekend we were close to the competitiveness that we would like to have. We know we struggle more in the race. We suffer with the drop in tyre performance, but we are working on that and I see positive feedback from Suzuki. The solution is achievable but not as immediate as we’d like, so we have to put up with it and keep on. I can see that I am not the only one in this and they all are making an effort to try to improve. This is something I really appreciate and I will do my best to give them what they deserve. We need to be patient, but in these last two races we learned so much; this will be useful. Here in Austria we suffered a lot with the tyre drop, maybe with the electronics we can solve the problem, and also with some improvements in the chassis or setup. At the same time we improved the braking considerably, which was a crucial point for me. This means that little by little we are getting there.”

Alex Rins
“It’s been a complicated race. The start went well, but then I was in the middle of a group in which I lost some positions. When I started to recover, one rider hit me and I went off the track. While making up the distance I think I was pushing too much and I was not able to keep the tyre as I would have liked. I was able to overtake a few places and finish the race. That, under the circumstances, was the main objective. At this track we have suffered a little more than we expected, but to sum up, I am satisfied with the steps that we have taken even though the result is not what we expected at the beginning of the weekend.”

GP of Austria – Race classification:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 39’43.323
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – +0.176
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – +2.661
4. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – +6.663
5. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – +7.262
6. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – +7.447
7. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – +8.995
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – +14.515
9. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – +19.620
10. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +19.766
11. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +20.101
12. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – +25.523
13. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – +26.700
14. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – +27.321
15. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – +28.096
16. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – +32.912
17. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – +34.112
18. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – +36.423
19. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – +42.404
20. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – +52.492

MotoGP World Standing 2017:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Honda – 174
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati – 158
3. Maverick VIÑALES, Yamaha – 150
4. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha – 141
5. Dani PEDROSA, Honda – 139
6. Johann ZARCO, Yamaha – 99
7. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati – 79
8. Jonas FOLGER, Yamaha – 77
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Honda – 76
10. Danilo PETRUCCI, Ducati – 75
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Ducati – 52
12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia – 43
13. Jack MILLER, Honda – 43
14. Loris BAZ, Ducati – 38
15. Scott REDDING, Ducati – 37
16. Andrea IANNONE, Suzuki – 33
17. Karel ABRAHAM, Ducati – 25
18. Tito RABAT, Honda – 23
19. Pol ESPARGARO, KTM – 21
20. Hector BARBERA, Ducati – 21
21. Alex RINS, Suzuki – 12
22. Bradley SMITH, KTM – 8
23. Michele PIRRO, Ducati – 7
24. Mika KALLIO, KTM – 6
25. Sam LOWES, Aprilia – 2
26. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki – 1