Team Suzuki Press Office – October 28.
Andrea Iannone: 2nd (+ 1.543)
Alex Rins: 5th (+ 5.017)
• Iannone fights at front for excellent second place.
• Rins remains in lead group, takes 5th at the flag.
• Team SUZUKI ECSTAR pleased with progress.
Following a successful Friday and Saturday at Phillip Island in Australia, expectations were high for the 17th round of the championship. In Sunday morning’s Warm-Up session Andrea Iannone stamped his authority once again by setting the fastest time, with Alex Rins close by in 6th.
As the complex 27 lap race got underway in chilly but bright conditions, Iannone and Rins opted for the medium-hard tyre combination. Both riders got great starts and immediately slotted into the lead group, with Iannone setting the fastest lap on only lap 3. Alex Rins lost a few positions after being sat up by Viñales, but he was able to manage his race well and rejoin the lead group, where he persevered until the flag to take a very solid 5th place. Andrea Iannone was in the fight for top spot and was very close to a huge incident between Zarco and Marquez, however, the Italian kept his focus and continued to push until the end, despite a couple of small mistakes. With 5 laps to go he made his move into 2nd place and proceeded to resist all challenges to achieve an excellent 2nd place, his best result with Suzuki. These strong finishes from the team-mates sees them both close up in the championship standings, giving extra motivation for the final two races.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“After the podium in Motegi, we were pleased to get another podium here. I’m very happy and want to thank everybody who is involved in this project, and also all the fans who support us. This weekend we’ve been very competitive in all sessions, so I feel somehow sorry we couldn’t get the victory, as we felt it could be achievable. In the race we were able to see our positive points, and also the parts we need to improve more, so we’ll continue to develop and work – as we want to get a win as soon as possible!”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This has been another very good day for our team, we took another podium, the second in a row and the third in 4 races. Andrea had a great battle with many riders and was able to finish 2nd. Because of this big battle it was hard to catch the leader, but anyway, it was a good race and we scored our 7th podium of the season. Alex finishing 5th was also very positive, Top 5 is really important to us. I really hope we can continue like this for the last two rounds of the season and thanks again to everybody involved for always working hard, especially on difficult times.”
Andrea Iannone
“I’m really happy, especially as we were at the top almost all weekend long, and this gives us a lot of positivity. We worked together on improving my feeling with the bike and it meant I was able to finish really close to the top. I felt able to win but it was a hard fight with the others and I was losing ground with them. When I managed to overtake them and keep them behind I realised I couldn’t catch Viñales, so I just tried to defend and manage the tyres. At the end I pushed at 100% to make sure I could get 2nd place.”
Alex Rins
“It was an interesting race and I was able to learn a lot. During the first part, when I was inside the group, I was feeling good but then when I got the contact from Maverick I lost a lot of ground and it cost me a lot because the group got away, but this is racing. I also lost further time trying to overtake Miller. But we want to focus on the positive points, and there were many, for instance the way I was able to battle with Rossi and defend my 5th place. We’re going to Malaysia with good feelings and we are prepared, so we hope for another nice result there.”
GP of Australia – Race Classification:
1. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 40’51.081
2. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1.543
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +1.832
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati Team +4.072
5. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +5.017
6. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +5.132
7. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing +6.756
8. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +21.805
9. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +22.904
10. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +22.940
11. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team +34.386
12. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing +35.025
13. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +36.348
14. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +36.389
15. Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing +44.214
16. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS +48.226
17. Jordi TORRES Reale Avintia Racing +1’04.965
18. Mike JONES Angel Nieto Team +1’19.817
Not Classified
44 Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3
26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
93 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
5 Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3
MotoGP World Standings 2018:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 296
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 210
3. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 195
4. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 180
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 148
6. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 137
7. Johann ZARCO Yamaha 133
8. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 133
9. Jorge LORENZO Ducati 130
10. Alex RINS Suzuki 129
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati 96
12. Dani PEDROSA Honda 95
13. Jack MILLER Ducati 83
14. Franco MORBIDELLI Honda 46
15. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 39
16. Tito RABAT Ducati 35
17. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 35
18. Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha 34
19. Bradley SMITH KTM 29
20. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 21
21. Scott REDDING Aprilia 15
22. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 10
23. Mika KALLIO KTM 6
24. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA 2
25. Xavier SIMEON Ducati 1
26. Michele PIRRO Ducati 1
27. Thomas LUTHI Honda
28. Stefan BRADL Honda
29. Jordi TORRES Ducati
30. Mike JONES Ducati
31. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki
32. Christophe PONSSON Ducati
