Team Suzuki Press Office – June 9.
Andrea Iannone: 12th – 1’45.465 / +1.170
Sylvain Guintoli: 22nd – 1’47.002 / +2.707
The first day at the Catalan GP brought difficult weather conditions in the morning, with a mixed situation on a wet track, but without rain. This prevented the riders from preparing for the start of the race. Sylvain Guintoli took to the track for two runs and Andrea Iannone just one, as the circuit was drying up a little towards the end of the session.
The afternoon saw improved conditions and a solid dry track. In these conditions Iannone was able to improve his lap time and stay consistently in the top ten. Only at the end of the session did he fall back to 12th place with a best time of 1’45.465.
Sylvain Guintoli did two runs in the morning in an effort to better check the tracks conditions and get more kms on this GSX-RR. In the afternoon he continued to improve, cutting more than 1.5s from his morning’s best. The 1’47.002 scored at the beginning of FP2 sets him in 22nd place today.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This morning the weather affected the first session and we were only to lap for a very short time. It was in the afternoon that we could really test. Andrea’s pace is not bad, and we didn’t try the time attack because we had prioritised other things to test. Now that we have clearer ideas, we can also look forward to the classification. Tomorrow we will try the time attack in FP3 to try to enter directly into Q2, and hopefully get a good grid position. This is a difficult track with low grip, because of this, it was important to work on the pace and define a good overall setup. Sylvain continues to grow in his experience with us. He showed positive improvements today, and also worked on the pace, giving the engineers important information.”
Andrea Iannone
“This morning we had very difficult conditions; not really wet nor dry. In the afternoon we were able to ride in more consistent conditions. We did some work, but we still need some time to better finalize the electronics. The feeling with the settings was not bad; so this is a positive thing, and we can focus on getting better traction. The track is very different with the new circuit layout and the lines due to the recent modifications. It’s hard to find the best lines.”
Sylvain Guintoli
“We used this afternoon´s first session in dry conditions to test the new layout, and also the track which is different for me. It was a positive session; we worked on the bike with different setup configurations. We kept the same tyres, because the race pace is so important due to the stress put on the tyres at this circuit. I felt comfortable with this. What the ranking doesn’t tell you is that I think this was my best first day since I joined the team. I feel happy and I think we can make this a very positive weekend.”
GP of Catalunya – Combined classification after Day 1:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1’44.478
2. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1’44.700 / +0.222
3. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’44.839 / +0.361
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1’44.883 / +0.405
5. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’44.890 / +0.412
6. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’45.063 / +0.585
7. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1’45.098 / +0.620
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’45.116 / +0.638
9. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’45.118 / +0.640
10. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’45.311 / +0.833
11. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing – 1’45.375 / +0.897
12. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’45.465 / +0.987
13. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’45.554 / +1.076
14. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1’45.755 / +1.277
15. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’45.760 / +1.282
16. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’45.810 / +1.332
17. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’45.868 / +1.390
18. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1’45.932 / +1.454
19. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1’45.967 / +1.489
20. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’46.229 / +1.751
21. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’46.946 / +2.468
22. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’47.002 / +2.524
23. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’47.892 / +3.414
