Team Suzuki Press Office – October 19
Andrea Iannone: 6th – 1:46.030 (+ 0.672)
Alex Rins: 19th – 1:47.187 (+ 1.829)
Sylvain Guintoli: 21st – 1:47.537 (+ 2.179)
• Andrea Iannone showing good pace in FP1.
• Alex Rins and Sylvain Guintoli working on settings.
• New aerodynamic package debuted.
Day 1 at Twin Ring Motegi saw mixed conditions and a focus on set-up rather than speed. Team SUZUKI ECSTAR have three riders on track in Japan, thanks to the return of Test Rider, Sylvain Guintoli.
The morning’s FP1 session was dry, allowing Andrea Iannone to put in some strong lap times and finish the session in 6th place. Meanwhile, Rins and Guintoli took time to work on settings. The rain arrived for FP2 and these damp conditions kept many riders in the box for a large part of the session. Whilst Iannone opted to stay in, Rins and Guintoli went out for some laps to try out a new configuration aerodynamic fairing.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Of course the rain stopped us a bit from doing our job to prepare for the weekend, but that’s the same for everybody. We still tried to collect some good information with Alex in the wet. We were able to do some dry laps too, so we tried to make it a useful day. In the morning in the dry Andrea was doing well and was able to stay well within the Top 10, meanwhile Alex was working on race preparations and tyres like usual. So we’ll see tomorrow how the weekend will develop depending on the weather conditions, but we’ll keep working.”
Andrea Iannone
“This morning’s FP1 was really good. The track here in Japan is great with really strong braking and hard acceleration. We started well and the feeling with the bike is good. For sure it’s important to keep improving practice by practice, but we’re starting from a strong point. I’m hoping to arrive on the start line ready to battle at the front.”
Alex Rins
“The feeling was good but the weather has been strange; raining on and off, and I don’t really like this feeling. Luckily FP1 was completely dry so we were able to test the bike a bit and try different settings. I decided to keep the same set of tyres for the whole session. We also tried a new aero fairing and it seems to be an improvement. Apparently tomorrow the weather could be the same as today, but we’ll give 100% whatever it’s like.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“This weekend is very exciting because we’re mainly working towards next year. At the moment there are many different things to try so we’re assessing the new parts one by one before blending it all together. The current bike is already really good, but it’s still important for us to try new things and it’s going very well. It seems like we’re getting a bit stronger on top speed, the handling is already fantastic, so it’s about finding the balance of adding new things without compromising our existing strong points.”
Info.
Circuit: Twin Ring Motegi
Air Temperature: 19c
Track Temperature: 27c
Humidity: 65%
GP of Japan – Combined Classification after Day 1:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1’45.358 (FP1)
2. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 1’45.463 0.105 / 0.105 (FP1)
3. Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’45.483 0.125 / 0.020 (FP1)
4. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’45.498 0.140 / 0.015 (FP1)
5. Maverick VIÑALES Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’45.640 0.282 / 0.142 (FP1)
6. Andrea IANNONE Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’46.030 0.672 / 0.390 (FP1)
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA Angel Nieto Team 1’46.210 0.852 / 0.180 (FP1)
8. Jack MILLER Alma Pramac Racing 1’46.265 0.907 / 0.055 (FP1)
9. Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’46.329 0.971 / 0.064 (FP1)
10. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’46.526 1.168 / 0.197 (FP1)
11. Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’46.568 1.210 / 0.042 (FP1)
12. Scott REDDING Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’46.854 1.496 / 0.286 (FP1)
13. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’46.856 1.498 / 0.002 (FP1)
14. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’46.859 1.501 / 0.003 (FP1)
15. K.NAKASUGA Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing1’46.872 1.514 / 0.013 (FP1)
16. Xavier SIMEON Reale Avintia Racing 1’46.998 1.640 / 0.126 (FP1)
17. Danilo PETRUCCI Alma Pramac Racing 1’47.054 1.696 / 0.056 (FP1)
18. Bradley SMITH Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’47.137 1.779 / 0.083 (FP1)
19. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’47.187 1.829 / 0.050 (FP1)
20. Franco MORBIDELLI EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1’47.428 2.070 / 0.241 (FP1)
21. Sylvain GUINTOLI Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’47.537 2.179 / 0.109 (FP1)
22. Jordi TORRES Reale Avintia Racing 1’47.665 2.307 / 0.128 (FP1)
23. Karel ABRAHAM Angel Nieto Team 1’47.716 2.358 / 0.051 (FP1)
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’47.726 2.368 / 0.010 (FP1)
25. Thomas LUTHI EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1’47.833 2.475 / 0.107 (FP1)
99 Jorge LORENZO Ducati Team No Time Set
