Team Suzuki Press Office – April 3rd.
Grid positions for Doha GP:
Alex Rins: 8th – 1’53.745
Joan Mir: 9 – 1’53.785
The Losail Circuit brought the toughest conditions to date for FP3 practice on Saturday afternoon, with strong winds blowing sand and dust across the track, resulting in poor visibility and challenging conditions for drivers and teams alike.
This made it impossible for anyone to improve their lap times for the combined classification. Team Suzuki Ecstar riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir used the session to optimize their GSX-RR machines for the rest of the day and finish the RP3 in second and third place.
This work continued after dark and in RP4, where drivers tried out the various tire options and improved their feel before the important qualifying sessions. I was third and Rin’s sixth.
For the second time in a row, Mir did an excellent job in the first quarter and drove his fastest lap of the weekend to secure first place and move into the second quarter.
In the final qualifying, both Suzuki drivers concentrated on fast laps and improved their times again. This enabled both of them to move up the grid once compared to last weekend, with Rins taking eighth and Mir ninth.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“Of course it would be better to be a bit higher on the grid, but the third row is not bad and we trust that our drivers can fight for the podium from there. Once again, Joan made a good recovery and got through the first quarter, and Alex did well today too. Both drivers improved one step on the starting grid. I’m looking forward to seeing the race tomorrow. “
Alex Rins:
“Today was a good day, but it was a little difficult to find a fast lap as the conditions with so much sand were very bad. It was difficult to improve, but in the end I was still able to get a better starting position than last week with P8. I think and hope that this time the race will be even more competitive and that we can have a good fight in the top group. I am ready for it. “
Joan Mir:
“It was a positive day and I’m happy with how everything went. We managed to switch from Q1 to Q2 and I improved my lap time on the fresh, soft tires. We still have to work on qualifying. I have to drive differently than usual because I do not take it for granted to do fast laps. I usually do better to do longer runs with constant laps. But I’m happy with my starting position and was actually close to the second row. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. “
TISSOT GRAND PRIX FROM DOHA – Qualifying Classification:
1. J. MARTIN – Pramac Racing – 01: 53.106
2nd J. ZARCO – Pramac Racing – 01: 53.263 + 0.157
3. M. VIÑALES – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – 01: 53.267 +0.161
4. J. MILLER – Ducati Lenovo Team – 01: 53.303 +0.197
5. F. QUARTARARO – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – 01: 53.469 +0.363
6. F. BAGNAIA – Ducati Lenovo Team – 01: 53.654 +0.548
7. A. ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 01: 53.705 +0.599
8. A. RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 01: 53.745 +0.639
9. J. MIR – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 01: 53.785 +0.679
10. F. MORBIDELLI – Petronas Yamaha SRT – 01: 53.794 + 0.688
11. S. BRADL – Repsol Honda Team – 01: 54.224 +1.118
12th M. OLIVEIRA – Red Bull KTM factory race – 01: 55.096 +1.990
13. L. MARINI – SKY VR46 Esponsorama – 01: 54.228 – Q1
14. A. MARQUEZ – LCR Honda CASTROL – 01: 54.261 – Q1
15. P. ESPARGARO – Repsol Honda Team – 01: 54.402 – Q1
16. T. NAKAGAMI – LCR Honda IDEMITSU – 01: 54.481 – Q1
17th D. PETRUCCI – Tech 3 KTM factory race – 01: 54.528 – Q1
18th B. BINDER – Red Bull KTM factory race – 01: 54.555 – Q1
19. E. BASTIANINI – Esponsorama Racing – 01: 54.632 – Q1
20th I. LECUONA – Tech 3 KTM factory race – 01: 54.731 – Q1
21. V. ROSSI – Petronas Yamaha SRT – 01: 54.881 – Q1
22. L. SAVADORI – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 01: 55.823 – Q1