Team Suzuki Press Office – November 8. As per tradition, the Valencian Grand Prix will be the round that brings an end to the 2017 MotoGP World Championship and bridges into the 2018 season with the test that follows on the Tuesday and Wednesday after the weekend´s race.
Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins have recovered well since their return from the very long and distant Japan-Australia-Malaysia trip and are now ready to face the last challenge of the season. They are already eager to start thinking about the new season. The last race in Sepang was a bitter one, with Iannone out of the points and Rins crashing out, but the previous races in Motegi and Phillip Island had been positive ones. Both riders were able to sense the improvements in the feeling of the bike and the consequent improvement of performance.
The Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia will mark a return to where it all started; the riders had their first go with the GSX-RR’s right on this track exactly one year ago. The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian Racetrack) is a facility that was completed in 1999 and has been hosting the GP ever since. The track is pretty tight, but the complex can hold around 150,000 fans in the stadium-style grandstands. Since it is the final GP of the season, many people are expected to come and support their heroes. The MotoGP™ events are held on a 4km track comprised of five right-hand corners, eight left-handers, and a 650m straight, for a total distance of 120.2 km (74.7 miles) over 30 laps.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We look forward to racing in Valencia. Even if Malaysia was not as good as we expected the last part of the season had some very positive aspects. We head to Valencia eager to finish in good shape. The layout of the track is perhaps not the best for our bike, but we will try to close out the season with a good quality result. The season has been difficult for us, but in the end we recuperated some positive feelings. We will try our best in the Valencia race and then start a new season using to our advantage the accumulated experience.”
Andrea Iannone
“Valencia is a peculiar track that I can race very well when I have a good feel for the bike. My race last year was a good one. I was coming back after injury and had a positive feeling with the layout. This year I’m approaching the race in a high spirits because I still link this circuit with the first time ever that I tried the GSX-RR, and the feeling was great. Our goal is to close this season in a good way. In the last races we have had some ups and downs, but on average we have been able to make important improvements in this final stretch of the season.”
Alex Rins
“This will be the last race of the season and I really want to finish with a positive result. Of course it will be emotional to ride again in Valencia because this was the circuit where I tried a MotoGP machine for the very first time. The GSX-RR was impressive. For sure things have changed a lot since the beginning; we have made many improvements throughout the season and I myself especially learned a lot. I´m approaching this weekend in a completely different mood than one year ago, as you might imagine. Another positive thing is that in the last part of the season we began a positive trend. The machine has grown and with it also my knowledge of it all. Let’s take it step by step and have a positive last race of the season.”
