Suzuki completed qualifying for the Argentine Grand Prix, held this weekend at the Termas de Rio Hondo track, in seventh and eighth place with Alex Rins and Joan Mir.
The two blue of Hamamatsu have signed a very similar time between them. Rins and Mir are 61 thousandths apart in favor of the Catalan from Barcelona. But what worries the two Iberians is the gap they have from poleman, Aleix Espargaro, on the Aprilia RS-GP.
Race pace does not seem to be Suzuki’s main problem. Rins and Mir may be thinking of catching up during the race that starts this evening, but often in recent seasons – in this start of 2022 too – the GSX-RRs have struggled a lot on the flying lap.
Joan Mir, Suzuki MotoGP Team
Photo by: MotoGP
Both Suzuki riders underlined this aspect. But it was Alex Rins who put the main emphasis on this issue.
“We have more pace than the riders in the lead, so we’ll try. I’m very confident. The key will be the first two laps. If we position ourselves well, we’ll have options to fight for the podium.”
“The fact that Joan and I are always so close means that we push the bikes to the limit. And we’re seven tenths off the lead, so something is happening and something needs to be done. We need to see where those seven tenths are.”
Rins then went into more specifics. The GSX-RR have made progress compared to the recent past, but from the pre-season tests the bike has made no progress, while it seems that the opponents have made it.
“I would say that the level of the bike is the same as in the pre-season, but now riders who weren’t there in the winter have appeared. I don’t think the bike has leveled off, but the others have improved and we have been a bit ‘stagnant’, concluded Rins.
“The pace we have is not spectacular, and this position (eighth) is not the best to start,” said Mir. The 2020 world champion had a problem with his first bike at the decisive moment of the second qualifying heat (Q2), a circumstance that forced him to go out for his best lap with the second bike. “I had an electrical problem with the first bike, which didn’t start, and I think if I could have used it, I would have improved a little more,” concluded Mir.