Team Suzuki Press Office – August 9.
Alex Rins: 12th – 1:24.540 (+ 0.624)
• Alex Rins makes solid start to Austrian weekend.
• Team looking ahead to Saturday’s qualifying.
Just five days after the Czech GP, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR are back into ‘race mode’ at the Red Bull Ring in Austria for Round 11.
Alex Rins took to the track alone after his team-mate, Joan Mir, was ruled out pre-event due to an accident sustained at Monday’s Brno test. The morning’s FP1 session went well as Alex got settled into Spielberg’s sweeping circuit; the Spaniard placed 3rd with one-minute left on the clock but got bumped to 7th place as the flag came out. However, he was just half a second from the top.
The track reached a scorching 50°c for FP2, and Rins once again looked solid as he tried different tyre combinations and continued to work on set-up for the unique Austrian track. He spent the majority of the session in the Top 5 and completed FP2 in 12th place. Rins is ready to push in tomorrow’s FP3 to try and secure a place in the all-important Q2.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“Alex had to work hard today; we had to try some different settings and discover the best direction to take. We still need to do a bit more work to fine tune the settings and to confirm a tyre selection. Tomorrow we hope to stay in the Top 10 and be in Q2, we’ll see what we can do. Overall it’s been quite a good opening day.”
Alex Rins:
“Today went well. I tried all the different tyre combinations on the front and rear, and we know more or less which way we want to go. I was hoping to take a provisional place in Q2 during FP2, but in the end it wasn’t quite possible because I was 12th, and that was a bit disappointing for me. I’m struggling a little in the second sector, but apart from that I feel pretty good here. Today I didn’t really push for a fast lap, we preferred to focus on feel and settings.”
GP of Austria – Combined Classification after Day 1:
1. M.MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’23.916 (FP2)
2. M.VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’23.982 0.066 / 0.066 (FP2)
3. A.DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1’24.033 0.117 / 0.051 (FP1)
4. NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1’24.071 0.155 / 0.038 (FP2)
5. F.QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT 1’24.153 0.237 / 0.082 (FP2)
6. J.MILLER Pramac Racing 1’24.308 0.392 / 0.155 (FP2)
7. M.OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1’24.326 0.410 / 0.018 (FP2)
8. D.PETRUCCI Ducati Team 1’24.330 0.414 / 0.004 (FP2)
9. C.CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 1’24.336 0.420 / 0.006 (FP2)
10. P.ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’24.418 0.502 / 0.082 (FP2)
11. V.ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1’24.469 0.553 / 0.051 (FP1)
12. A.RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’24.540 0.624 / 0.071 (FP2)
13. F.BAGNAIA Pramac Racing 1’24.598 0.682 / 0.058 (FP2)
14. F.MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT 1’24.630 0.714 / 0.032 (FP2)
15. J.ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’24.670 0.754 / 0.040 (FP1)
16. S.BRADL Repsol Honda Team 1’24.755 0.839 / 0.085 (FP2)
17. A.ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’24.865 0.949 / 0.110 (FP2)
18. A.IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’25.003 1.087 / 0.138 (FP2)
19. K.ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing 1’25.139. 1.223 / 0.136 (FP2)
20. T.RABAT Reale Avintia Racing 1’25.233 1.317 / 0.094 (FP2)
21. H.SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1’25.269 1.353 / 0.036 (FP2)
