Team Suzuki Press Office – October 4th
AMERICA’S RED BULL GRAND PRIX:
Alex kidneys: 4.
Joan Mir: 8.
The Suzuki Ecstar team was happy to experience the unique atmosphere of the USA again before the 15th round of the World Championship; the ‘America’s GP’. The high temperatures, the excited crowd and a powerful rendition of the national anthem all added to the hustle and bustle around COTA on the outskirts of Austin.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir made rocket starts with their GSX-RRs and moved impressively into fourth and sixth in the first corners. Both opted for the hard / soft tire combination and hoped to storm through the field at the beginning of the 20-lap race. Rins quickly placed on the podium as he finished third before the end of the first lap.
The leading group was a decent size, with the first half a dozen drivers running close together for the first seven or eight laps. But as the race progressed, gaps appeared and the Suzuki duo slipped a little. On lap 10, Rins finished sixth and Mir seventh, but the dynamics of the race kept changing and both drivers were keen to keep up.
Even though they had settled into a steady rhythm, Rins and Mir were still ready to fight for the best possible positions. Rins overtook Jack Miller to finish fifth and found himself in a comfortable position with four laps left. Mir was now in sixth place, but a big fight with Miller and Enea Bastianini resulted in him taking seventh place; He was later relegated to eighth place for a moment on the final lap, which was considered irresponsible. Rins made up a position on the final lap after Jorge Martin received a long lap penalty; With that he was able to take a nice fourth place.
Alex kidneys:
“Today was a very difficult race for me, I fought a lot, it was so hot and physically tough for everyone. As I got out of the slow corners, I lost time – I’m not sure if it was the rear wheel grip or something in the setup, but I struggled to accelerate out of the corners. But in the smoother and faster corners I felt good and was able to keep the pace and fight better. We went for the soft tail like everyone else because it seemed like the best option for going into combat with the same weapons. In the end, it’s hard to say whether another choice might have worked better, but I’m glad I finished fourth – it’s not that bad and I took home some nice points. “
Joan Mir:
“For the whole race I tried to gain positions and do overtaking maneuvers, but due to some problems with acceleration and traction, I wasn’t really able to do it easily and I had to push really hard. I’m sorry for touching Jack (Miller) at the end of the race, I understand why he was angry but it’s a shame I had a penalty because it wasn’t a deliberate hit of course. I hope that we can be more competitive in the future because I don’t want to be in such fights with another driver, I want everything to be clean and I want to pass easier and fight with the leading group. Anyway, I’m eighth today and that’s the way it is. I am ready to concentrate on Misano. “
Shinichi Sahara – Project Leader and Team Leader:
“Both Alex and Joan gave 100% in today’s race. In all honesty, we expected more from the results, but I know that both of them did the best they could in this difficult race where the feeling with the bike and the tires was not perfect. They kept fighting and the task was to “limit the damage” – just get as many points as possible. Overall, the feeling with the bike wasn’t bad for both riders, but this race was extremely demanding. We look forward to the next races. “
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Director:
“It was good that both drivers crossed the finish line and not in bad positions, but we wanted more. We couldn’t fight for the podium here today, which was a shame, especially after our previous performances at COTA. Our competitors have been very strong and our drivers have given everything to bring home decent placings, but it is clear that we have to keep working. We keep our heads down and push for the remaining laps. “
RED BULL GRAND PRIX OF THE AMERICAS – Race classification:
1. M. MARQUEZ – Repsol Honda Team – 41: 41.435
2. F. QUARTARARO – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +04,679
3. F. BAGNAIA – Ducati Lenovo Team +08.547
4. A. RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +11,098
5. J. MARTIN – Pramac Racing +11.752
6. E. BASTIANINI – Avintia Sponsorama +13.269
7. J. MILLER – Ducati Lenovo Team +14,722
8. J. MIR – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +13.406
9. B. BINDER – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +15,832
10. P. ESPARGARO – Repsol Honda Team +20.265
11. M. OLIVEIRA – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +23,055
12. A. MARQUEZ – LCR Honda CASTROL +24.743
13. A. DOVIZIOSO – Petronas Yamaha SRT +25.307
14. L. MARINI – SKY VR46 Avintia +26.853
15. V. ROSSI – Petronas Yamaha SRT +28.055
16. I. LECUONA – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +30.989
17. T. NAKAGAMI – LCR Honda IDEMITSU +35.251
18. D. PETRUCCI – Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing +42.239
19. F. MORBIDELLI – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +49.854
Unclassified:
A. ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 16: 52.472 – 9 laps
J. ZARCO – Pramac Racing – 11: 18.801 – 5 laps
WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP:
1 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 254
2 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 202
3 Joan ME Suzuki 175
4 pawl MILLER Ducati 149
5 Johann ZARCO Ducati 141
6 Brad BINDER KTM 131
7 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 117
8 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 104
9 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia 98
10 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 92
11 Jorge MARTIN Ducati 82
12 Alex RINS Suzuki 81
13 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati 71
14 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 70
15 pin ESPARGARO Honda 70
16 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 54
17 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 40
18 Iker LECUONA KTM 38
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM 37
20 Luca MARINI Ducati 30
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 29
22 Stefan BRADL Honda 13
23 Michele PIRRO Ducati 8
24 days PEDROSA KTM 6
25 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 4
26 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha 3
27 Tito DISCOUNT Ducati 1
28 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha
29 Garrett GERLOFF Yamaha
30 Jake DIXON Yamaha
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