Team Suzuki Press Office – September 13.
Alex Rins: 11th – 1:33.874 (+ 1.099)
Joan Mir: 19th – 1:34.229 (+ 1.454)
• Alex Rins approaches Friday in usual meticulous way.
• Joan Mir makes his return to racing.
• Team ready to build up pace through weekend.
The thirteenth round of the 2019 MotoGP season got underway this morning in sunny San Marino. Team SUZUKI ECSTAR used Friday to fine tune settings and work on set-up, as well as getting used to the track surface.
The morning’s FP1 session saw Mir take to the track competitively for the first time since the Czech GP at the start of August. The young rookie quickly felt comfortable back on his GSX-RR, and reported feeling physically strong too, completing the session in 14th place and keeping the Top 10 within sight. Rins worked hard and finished the morning session in 12th.
Misano circuit heated up for FP2, meaning the lap times were not drastically improved on by any rider. Both Rins and Mir chose to utilise the session to prepare for tomorrow morning’s important FP3 session, despite spending a large part of the session in the Top 10. The pair tried different tyre options and settings, with Alex finishing 9th in the session, 11th on combined. Joan was 19th both in FP2 and on combined.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“We’ve done a lot of work today, let’s say the weekend is a work in progress! Alex has tried a few different things; like tyre options and collecting information for the race. Joan has also gone through different options. So, with both riders we were working to understand how best to approach the race. We are not so surprised not to be in the Top 10 today because we wanted to work on set-up, not on time attack. Tomorrow we’ll make up for that.”
Alex Rins:
“Today we did a lot of work on used tyres, putting in a lot of laps. In FP2 we checked to see how the bike and tyres react to the very high track temperatures. We’ve learned quite a lot today. I’m not currently in Q2, but I wasn’t expecting to be because I preferred to work on set-up.”
Joan Mir:
“Physically I feel really good, I feel I’m back at 100% fitness. In addition to that, the feeling with the bike is really positive and we are there, I’m happy about that. We decided not to go for an attack lap today, we are looking ahead to the rest of the weekend and tomorrow we’ll go for it.”
GP of San Marino – Combined Classification after Day 1:
1. M.VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:32.775 (FP2)
2. F.QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:32.832 0.057 / 0.057 (FP2)
3. M.MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1:33.171 0.396 / 0.339 (FP2)
4. V.ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:33.470 0.695 / 0.299 (FP2)
5. F.MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:33.524 0.749 / 0.054 (FP2)
6. P.ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:33.624 0.849 / 0.100 (FP2)
7. M.PIRRO Ducati Team 1:33.704 0.929 / 0.080 (FP1)
8. D.PETRUCCI Ducati Team 1:33.728 0.953 / 0.024 (FP2)
9. A.ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:33.762 0.987 / 0.034 (FP1)
10. A.DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1:33.826 1.051 / 0.064 (FP2)
11. A.RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:33.874 1.099 / 0.048 (FP2)
12. C.CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 1:33.907 1.132 / 0.033 (FP2)
13. J.ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:33.956 1.181 / 0.049 (FP2)
14. T.NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:33.998 1.223 / 0.042 (FP2)
15. F.BAGNAIA Pramac Racing 1:34.003 1.228 / 0.005 (FP2)
16. J.MILLER Pramac Racing 1:34.070 1.295 / 0.067 (FP2)
17. J.LORENZO Repsol Honda Team 1:34.139 1.364 / 0.069 (FP2)
18. T.RABAT Reale Avintia Racing 1:34.206 1.431 / 0.067 (FP2)
19. J.MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:34.229 1.454 / 0.023 (FP2)
20. M.OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:34.362 1.587 / 0.133 (FP2)
21. A.IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:34.381 1.606 / 0.019 (FP2)
22. K.ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing 1:34.843 2.068 / 0.462 (FP2)
23. H.SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:34.935 2.160 / 0.092 (FP2)
