Team Suzuki Press Office – August 11.
Alex Rins: 6th (+ 8.695)
• Alex Rins brings home useful points and solid finish.
• Team pleased with the improvements made since the last Austrian GP.
The Red Bull Ring had a small surprise in store for morning Warm-Up, when the mountainous track suffered a rain storm. However, the race in front of 85,000 excitable Austrian fans remained dry and provided 28 laps of twists and turns.
Alex Rins, the solo rider for Team SUZUKI ECSTAR due to Joan Mir’s injury hiatus, opted for the medium-medium tyre combination from his 7th place grid spot. The Spaniard got off to a good start and managed to swiftly get into 3rd place as some of his rivals made mistakes on the first corner. However, Rins struggled a little to get into his rhythm and he slipped to 7th place. Later in the race, whilst running in 6th, he was in a battle for 4th place with Rossi and Viñales. But with the tricky track taking its toll he opted to secure a ‘safe’ 6th place finish and close the gap to Petrucci in the championship standings.
For Team SUZUKI ECSTAR this finish marks an improvement in form on the unique and technical Austrian circuit, with Rins taking 8 seconds out of his gap to the race winner when compared to 2018, and his overall race time being shaved by 14 seconds.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“We couldn’t fight for the podium here today, but we can call ourselves satisfied because this track is not one of our best and we are pleased to get some good points and a top six finish. Thanks to Alex for the work he’s put in during this difficult weekend. It was strange for us to only have one rider here, and we’re looking forward to seeing Joan again at the next race.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“In the end, Alex had a very good race and we performed better than we perhaps thought beforehand. We did struggle a bit here, but we were still able to meet the target of the top six. We’re looking forward to the next races, which will probably be more suited to our bike. We’ll be happy to have Joan back with us in Silverstone too, hopefully he will be able to recover in these next 10 days and be fully recovered. Let’s see what we can do there!”
Alex Rins:
“This race was really difficult for me, I suffered under braking. But our target was to improve my result compared to last year and we managed to do that. In 2018 I finished 8th here, and today I was 6th. I also narrowed the gap in the points standings. I always try to give my maximum at every race, and I’m motivated for the next round. I really enjoy Silverstone so I’m keen to arrive there.”
GP of Austria – Race Classification:
1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 39’34.771
2. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team +0.213
3. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +6.117
4. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +7.719
5. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +8.674
6. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +8.695
7. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +16.021
8. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +16.206
9. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +17.350
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +20.510
11. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +22.273
12. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +25.503
13. Stefan BRADL Repsol Honda Team +31.962
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +34.741
15. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +48.109
16. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1 Lap
Not Classified
53 Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing
43 Jack MILLER Pramac Racing
55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3
44 Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL
MotoGP Championship Standings:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 230
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 172
3. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 136
4. Alex RINS Suzuki 124
5. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 103
6. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 102
7. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 92
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 86
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 78
10. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 62
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 61
12. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 58
13. Joan MIR Suzuki 39
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 33
15. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 26
16. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 24
17. Johann ZARCO KTM 22
18. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 21
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 19
20. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
21. Tito RABAT Ducati 14
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 4
24. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 3
25. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 3
26. Bradley SMITH Aprilia
