RINS HOPES TO ROCKET FROM THIRD ROW START AT MOTORLAND

2022-09-19 09:20
It was a rollercoaster Saturday for Suzuki in Spain as Alex Rins showed great pace, but Joan Mir was sadly forced to withdraw from proceedings after Free Practice 3 with a lack of movement and an increase of pain in his injured ankle.

The first part of the morning’s FP1 saw few improvements in the cooler conditions, but things soon began to heat up with 21 riders covered by 1 second. In the final 15 minutes Rins showed his determination for a strong result, pushing to get into the Top 10. His form allowed him to do just that, and progress directly to Q2, despite losing a lap to a yellow flag, and having a small off at Turn 5 on his last flying lap.

A scorching final qualifying saw Rins struggling to maintain a place in the Top 5, but he was still competitive and keen to gain the best possible grid spot. At the chequered flag he was in ninth, allowing him to start his home race from the third row, but close on time to the second row.

Alex Rins:

“Today was a good day, but it could’ve been even better. My pace in FP4 under ‘race simulation conditions’ with the tyres which, in theory, I’ll use tomorrow and with a full tank showed that I can have a strong race. It’s clear that it will be a very competitive race tomorrow, with lots of my rivals running well. There are parts of the track which suit the Suzuki, but other parts which suit the other manufacturers. Anyway, I will give everything for a good result here in Aragón – I love this track and it’s like a home race for me with my family connections to this region.”

Livio Suppo - Team Manager:

“In FP4 Alex showed good rhythm with a long run of 16 laps, and this encourages us for the race because he clearly has nice pace. In qualifying he missed out on the second row by a tiny amount, around one tenth of a second, but we’re not too worried because he’s usually able to get good starts and be fast off the line. We can’t wait for tomorrow to see what he can do. Once again, I’d like to send my best wishes to Joan as he continues his recovery.”

GRAND PRIX OF ARAGON QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION:

1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1'46.069
2 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1'46.159 0.090 0.090
3 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 1'46.313 0.244 0.154
4 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1'46.590 0.521 0.277
5 Johann ZARCO Prima Pramac Racing 1'46.646 0.577 0.056
6 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha 1'46.802 0.733 0.156
7 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1'46.852 0.783 0.050
8 Jorge MARTIN Prima Pramac Racing 1'46.911 0.842 0.059
9 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'46.912 0.843 0.001
10 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'46.924 0.855 0.012
11 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'47.183 1.114 0.259
12 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1'47.274 1.205 0.091
13 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1'46.909 Q1
14 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1'47.056 Q1
15 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 1'47.119 Q1
16 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1'47.337 Q1
17 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1'47.489 Q1
18 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 1'47.511 Q1
19 Cal CRUTCHLOW WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1'47.541 Q1
20 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'47.651 Q1
21 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1'47.671 Q1
22 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1'47.847 Q1
23 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1'49.309 Q1

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office

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