• Joan Mir running Top 10 until an unfortunate crash.
• Team SUZUKI ECSTAR thrilled to add another podium to the tally.
Some 75,000 Spanish fans filled the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto to witness the 300th race of the modern-day MotoGP era. Alex Rins and Joan Mir had work to do from their 9th and 12th place grid spots, but both enjoyed good starts.
Alex Rins began fighting for the Top 6 by the end of the first lap, slotting in between the two factory Ducatis, and just three laps into the race he had already set a fastest lap. After a short battle with Dovizioso he began to close in on the Yamaha battle in front of him. Making swift work of passing both Viñales and Morbidelli, the young Spaniard suddenly found himself in second place following the retirement of Quartararo. Alex kept up a very strong and consistent pace, pulling away from those behind him and holding 2nd place until the finish line. This excellent result sees him move into 2nd in the championship, just 1 point from the title lead.
Joan Mir had a good start, he put himself behind Rossi and progressed up
the field during the race, holding 10th place for much of the 25-lap race. Whilst in 9th place, and very close to the group in front of him, Joan went down at Turn 13. A disappointing end, especially as he reported feeling very confident with the bike. He is thankfully uninjured.
Monday will see Team SUZUKI ECSTAR take part in the one-day test at Jerez circuit, where the Factory Riders will be joined by test rider Sylvain Guintoli.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“Today was a good race, continuing our good feeling from the win at the
last race. I’m so happy to see Alex’s confidence increasing race by race, and he has very strong pace. We want to continue in this way; always challenging for the top places. It was a real shame for Joan that he crashed because he was strong during the race, we have faith that he’ll get some great results soon.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Alex did a great job, starting 9th in Jerez and recovering to 2nd is
not easy at all, it’s one of the most difficult tracks to make up
places. He did a great race, and his pace was very fast until the end.
So, I want to congratulate him, and also to say thank you to all the
team. I’m happy about Joan’s race, because despite the crash with 3 laps
to go, he had good pace and was very close to the top in terms of lap
times. So overall it’s been a positive day.”
Alex Rins
“It’s incredible to get a win and then a 2nd place. I feel very happy; this race was really difficult and starting on the third row made it harder. I gave 100% and I knew that my race pace could be close to Marc’s, so I planned to try and get a good start and go towards the front. The Spanish fans were amazing today, I could see Peluqui corner full of fans and it gives me a real boost every lap. I want to keep up this consistency and I hope for another good finish in Le Mans.”
Joan Mir
“I’m disappointed that I didn’t finish the race, because I had good potential this weekend, but racing is like this. I was happy with my feeling, and when I was catching the group in front I felt good. I really like Le Mans and I hope I can do a great race there and get the result that I know I’m capable of.”
GP of Spain – Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41’08.685
2. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +1.654
3. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +2.443
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Mission Winnow Ducati +2.804
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Mission Winnow Ducati +4.748
6. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +7.547
7. Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT +8.228
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +10.052
9. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +10.274
10. Stefan BRADL Team HRC +13.402
11. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +15.431
12. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +18.473
13. Pol ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +20.156
14. Johann ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +26.706
15. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +28.513
16. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +36.858
17. Bradley SMITH Aprilia Factory Racing +41.390
18. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +41.570
19. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +50.568
Not Classified
43 Jack MILLER Pramac Racing
36 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
20 Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT
63 Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing
MotoGP Championship Standings:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 70
2. Alex RINS Suzuki 69
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 67
4. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 61
5. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 41
6. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 30
7. Jack MILLER Ducati 29
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 29
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 27
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 25
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 21
12. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18
13. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 17
14. Jorge LORENZO Honda 11
15. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 9
16. Joan MIR Suzuki 8
17. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 7
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 7
19. Stefan BRADL Honda 6
20. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 6
21. Tito RABAT Ducati 2
22. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati
23. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM
24. Bradley SMITH Aprilia
