SUZUKI RIDERS SOLIDLY IN TOP 10 ON OPENING DAY IN LE MANS2022-05-13 12:35Alex Rins: 3rd – 1’31.445 (+ 0.297) Joan Mir: 8th – 1’31.666 (+ 0.518) The French GP got off to a strong start for Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders, Alex Rins and Joan Mir, as the pair placed themselves firmly within the Top 10 and displayed consistently quick pace. Right from the beginning of FP1 Rins shot up the time sheets, initially taking third before briefly topping the session. Mir was quick to follow and he hovered in the Top 5 throughout the morning. They finished FP1 in second and sixth respectively. Both sessions on Friday were fairly crash-strewn despite Le Mans Bugatti Circuit offering up hot and sunny conditions. Mir was one of the victims, with a fast off at Turn 7 in FP2. Luckily, he escaped without serious injury and was able to return to the track on his second bike just 14 minutes after the crash. Rins used part of FP2 to try a long run with used tyres. The GSX-RR mounted riders both took impressive chunks out of their previous best times, and they complete Friday with Rins third and Mir eighth on combined. Alex Rins: “Overall it’s been a good day, with both FP1 and FP2 going well. I feel quite competitive so far, although I would like to improve the feeling with the rear because I began to suffer a lack of grip in FP2. I’m focused on the job at hand, and I feel comfortable riding around Le Mans, the bike works well here especially on the quick changes of direction and the fast corners. I want to get directly into Q2 tomorrow, the times are tight but we’ll try for sure.” Joan Mir: “It feels good to get back out there on the bike and concentrate on riding, and I felt strong in FP1. I had a high speed crash in FP2, which then had a bit of an impact on my performance for the rest of the day. I’m not injured, which is good, but I expect that I won’t have the best night’s sleep and I’ll be sore tomorrow. But anyway, I’m fairly competitive for the opening day and the team and I know what we have to do to continue in a good way. There were a lot of crashes and yellow flags today, which can make you lose laps, so we have to keep that in mind tomorrow.” Livio Suppo - Team Manager: “It’s been a very good day - the only downside was Joan’s crash, but luckily he’s OK and that’s always the most important thing. Both riders have shown that they can be fast here, and they had good pace from FP1 onwards. They continued to improve their lap times throughout the day, so we feel that it’s been a good start to the race weekend.” GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE DAY 1 COMBINED CLASSIFICATION: 1 Enea BASTIANINI Gresini Racing MotoGP 1'31.148 2 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing 1'31.350 0.202 0.202 3 Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'31.445 0.297 0.095 4 Johann ZARCO Pramac Racing 1'31.508 0.360 0.063 5 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati Lenovo Team 1'31.635 0.487 0.127 6 Fabio QUARTARARO Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'31.640 0.492 0.005 7 Brad BINDER Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'31.657 0.509 0.017 8 Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'31.666 0.518 0.009 9 Jorge MARTIN Pramac Racing 1'31.912 0.764 0.246 10 Jack MILLER Ducati Lenovo Team 1'31.914 0.766 0.002 11 Franco MORBIDELLI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'32.025 0.877 0.111 12 Maverick VIÑALES Aprilia Racing 1'32.051 0.903 0.026 13 Pol ESPARGARO Repsol Honda Team 1'32.076 0.928 0.025 14 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1'32.153 1.005 0.077 15 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Gresini Racing MotoGP 1'32.275 1.127 0.122 16 Marco BEZZECCHI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1'32.314 1.166 0.039 17 Luca MARINI Mooney VR46 Racing Team 1'32.416 1.268 0.102 18 Alex MARQUEZ LCR Honda CASTROL 1'32.505 1.357 0.089 19 Andrea DOVIZIOSO WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1'32.536 1.388 0.031 20 Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'32.695 1.547 0.159 21 Remy GARDNER Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1'32.737 1.589 0.042 22 Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1'33.397 2.249 0.660 23 Raul FERNANDEZ Tech3 KTM Factory Racing 1'33.557 2.409 0.160 24 Darryn BINDER WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team 1'33.561 2.413 0.004 Source: Team Suzuki Press Office Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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