Team Suzuki Press Office – May 5.
Andrea Iannone: 16th – 1’41.165/+1.745
Takuya Tsuda: 19th – 1’41.887/+2.467
Changing weather conditions greeted Team SUZUKI ECSTAR in their first European round, with rain falling in the morning making the FP1 session wet, and sun arriving in the afternoon for a dry second session. In these conditions both Andrea Iannone and Takuya Tsuda were able to lap consistently and gave engineers useful data, although the final results are not completely satisfying: Iannone ends this first day in Jerez with 16th place, while Tsuda is in P19.
The morning session saw Andrea Iannone make solid progress run after run, cutting nearly a second from his lap time. While during dry conditions in the afternoon, his performance was affected by a less than optimal feeling with the electronics which are in need of improvement. The different conditions of the track were very useful for the riders and the team in gaining experience, but did lead to a delay in the practice program of the engineers.
Suzuki’s test rider Takuya Tsuda debuted in his MotoGP race aboard the GSX-RR that had been left available by the injured Alex Rins. The Japanese rider was able to experience both wet and dry conditions and his performance was solid. He consistently ran close to the top 15 and improved run after run.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Having the weather situation change from morning to afternoon meant that we could only make use of one session to work on the dry configuration, and we still need some work done to finalize the electronics. We need more analysis of the data which we will do tonight, trying to find a better configuration for tomorrow in order to perform better in FP3. At least it looks like we took a step forward with the setup that gave Andrea a better feeling with the front end. We will try to investigate more tomorrow to see if this is the right way in which to proceed. Tsuda did a good job. He debuted both in wet and dry conditions, and his was a positive performance. The first day is over, but we will try to continue this trend towards progression tomorrow.”
Andrea Iannone
“This has not been an easy day, but we tried our best. This morning on the wet track I showed improved performance run after run and also lap by lap. In the end I cut nearly a second off my time. In addition, the feeling with the GSX-RR improved, and this is a positive thing. In dry conditions we are struggling a little more, and at the moment it’s not easy to get a positive performance. I have a good feeling about the chassis, but the gap to the leader is too big. We definitely need to improve, especially the electronics. I struggle to control the bike during acceleration and this makes me lose time. I have full confidence in my team and in Suzuki. Let’s hope we find a good idea to improve the situation tomorrow.”
Takuya Tsuda
“Since it was my dream come true to race MotoGP, I’m happy to have finished the first day without any big issues. Because my very first session was wet, and the afternoon was dry, and also since I’m still at the learning stage for setting up the bike and adapting my riding to this track, it has not been such an easy day, but I’m confident of improvement for the weekend. It was also a very good experience to have a chance to ride behind some fast and experienced riders, since it was completely different than what I had seen during the winter test. I’ll discuss tomorrow´s set up with the crew regarding to the data from today, and continue to do my best!”
GP of España – Classification after FP2:
1. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1’39.420
2. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’39.964 – +0.544
3. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1’40.045 – +0.625
4. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1’40.291 – +0.871
5 Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’40.378 – +0.958
6. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’40.379 – +0.959
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’40.392 – +0.972
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1’40.428 – +1.008
9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’40.479 – +1.059
10. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’40.573 – +1.153
11. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’40.639 – +1.219
12. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’40.698 – +1.278
13. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’40.773 – +1.353
14. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1’40.915 – +1.495
15. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’41.019 – +1.599
16. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’41.165 – +1.745
17. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’41.165 – +1.745
18. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’41.432 – +2.012
19. Takuya TSUDA, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’41.887 – +2.467
20. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’41.905 – +2.485
21. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’41.909 – +2.489
22. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’42.515 – +3.095
23. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’42.630 – +3.210
