If three days of testing at Sepang had suggested it was possible, a day in the searing Thai heat confirmed it: Suzuki and Alex Rins ended Friday second fastest, leading the Spaniard to conclude, ‘This year our bike will be competitive.’
Rins was just 0.033s off pace setter Cal Crutchlow at the Chang International Circuit at Buriram as winter preparations for 2018 continued apace. Admittedly the 20-year old used a new tire to post his quickest time, but as he showed in Malaysia at the end of January, the consistency is there.
“For sure this is a new track for everybody,” he began. “From the beginning I understand very well the track and I enjoy a lot riding here. Nothing more. We didn’t try many things.
“We just kept focused on the set up of the bike. I think that we’re doing a good test. Tomorrow we have a lot of things to try: a new fairing; new settings on the suspensions. I hope we can continue in this direction.”
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Why did he feel he was so strong here? “Well, I think this layout is really well suited to the Suzuki,” he said. “As you can see, we did a really big step compared to last year. I think this year our bike will be competitive.
“Sincerely, I didn’t expect this. Just today we focused on trying to understand the new track and layout, trying to understand the set-up of the bike and then tomorrow we will start to try little new things that we have brought here.
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“I’m really happy because we finished in second position. In the new layout, everyone is maybe missing something so tomorrow we can make some difference.
“It’s a very small track and everyone can take one reference from another rider. The important thing is today I did really good pace and this is important looking to the race.”
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