Team Suzuki Press Office – May 3.
Alex Rins: 12th – 1:38.534 (+ 0.838)
Joan Mir: 18th – 1:38.789 (+ 0.880)
• Alex Rins trying tyre and set-up options.
• Joan Mir suffers small crash but feels confident.
• Team taking usual steady approach to proceedings.
The first day of action in Jerez saw incredibly close times, with the top 19 riders covered by less than one second. The Andalusian circuit is notoriously demanding on bikes and finding a balanced set-up is more crucial than ever, especially as the circuit has been newly resurfaced.
Alex Rins felt strong in the morning’s FP1 session and was able to place himself into the Top 10 before the chequered flag came out, just six tenths of a second from the top of the timesheet. In the afternoon the Spaniard tried out a variety of different tyre combinations and felt comfortable on the hard-hard configuration. He ended the day 12th on combined.
Joan Mir spent much of the day hovering around the Top 10 to 15. The rookie focused on perfecting his feeling with the GSX-RR around this technical track, and he felt satisfied. Joan crashed at the very end of the FP2 session, which had previously been red-flagged for other crashes, as he ran on at Turn 1 after he took the chequered flag and ended up in the gravel trap. Luckily he was uninjured. He finished Day 1 with 18th on combined.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“It’s been a busy day, trying to test settings as much as possible. We went through different options and collected a lot of information for tomorrow. Alex was checking tyre options, and Joan did a good job today checking settings too. We’re not in the Top 10, but we’ve stuck to our plan for today and we feel that it has been a good and useful Friday.”
Alex Rins
“I’m quite happy with today, we focused on bike set-up. At this GP, Michelin have given all the riders four different tyre compounds, so I’ve been trying different combinations of front and rear. The work has gone well today, and I feel that tomorrow will be a good day.”
Joan Mir
“I’m satisfied with my work today, but we still have more to do in order to put in some fast laps. I’m still looking for some extra grip so I can push harder for a quick lap. I feel that my pace is strong nevertheless, and my settings are generally feeling good. Tomorrow we’ll keep working and hope to qualify well.”
GP of Spain – Combined Classification after Day 1:
1. D. PETRUCCI Mission Winnow Ducati 1:37.909 (FP2)
2. M. MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1:37.921 0.012 / 0.012 (FP1)
3. A. DOVIZIOSO Mission Winnow Ducati 1:38.006 0.097 / 0.097 (FP2)
4. J. LORENZO Repsol Honda Team 1:38.045 0.136 / 0.136 (FP1)
5. C. CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda Castrol 1:38.104 0.195 / 0.059 (FP2)
6. M. VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:38.112 0.203 / 0.008 (FP1)
7. T. NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:38.134 0.225 / 0.022 (FP1)
8. F. QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:38.209 0.300 / 0.075 (FP1)
9. S. BRADL Team HRC 1:38.373 0.464 / 0.164 (FP2)
10. J. MILLER Pramac Racing 1:38.464 0.555 / 0.091 (FP1)
11. F. MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:38.478 0.569 / 0.014 (FP1)
12. A. RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:38.534 0.625 / 0.056 (FP1)
13. F. BAGNAIA Pramac Racing 1:38.593 0.684 / 0.059 (FP2)
14. P. ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:38.635 0.726 / 0.042 (FP2)
15. A. IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:38.676 0.767 / 0.041 (FP2)
16. V. ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:38.681 0.772 / 0.005 (FP2)
17. A. ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:38.721 0.812 / 0.040 (FP2)
18. J. MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:38.789 0.880 / 0.068 (FP2)
19. J. ZARCO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:38.897 0.988 / 0.108 (FP1)
20. T. RABAT Reale Avintia Racing 1:39.110 1.201 / 0.213 (FP2)
21. B. SMITH Aprilia Factory Racing 1:39.410 1.501 / 0.300 (FP1)
22. K. ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing 1:39.532 1.623 / 0.122 (FP2)
23. M. OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:39.774 1.865 / 0.242 (FP2)
24. H. SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:40.894 2.985 / 1.120 (FP2)
