Alex Rins and Joan Mir to start Qatar GP from fourth row

 In MotoGP, News

A challenging second day at Losail International Circuit saw struggles for Alex Rins and Joan Mir. But, after the solid work put in on Friday, both riders secured direct passage to the Q2 session. This was especially crucial given how close the lap times have been amongst the field, and the deterioration of track conditions in the evening. After the Q2 session, the pair will start from 10th and 11th respectively on the grid tomorrow.

Throughout FP3 and FP4, Rins focused his efforts on trying to improve his feeling with the bike following grip issues yesterday. His progress was hampered after two small crashes at Turn 2 – a corner which saw many riders lose the front – but the Spaniard still managed to secure 10th spot on the grid when it came to Q2.

Mir had a more straight forward day, and continued finding his feet. The rookie put in some strong lap times throughout Saturday and he confirmed 11th place during a tricky Q2 session. He will therefore make his debut from the 4th row.

Alex Rins

“Today was a bit hard for me, I had two crashes – one in FP3 and one in FP4 – so it was hard to start Q2 with a clear mind, and the track conditions didn’t help me. Anyway, I was able to improve my lap time even when riding alone. We’ll focus on tomorrow’s race, I feel that I have incredible race pace and strong rhythm with a used tyre, so we’re ready to enjoy the race.”

Joan Mir
“Qualifying was difficult because I couldn’t find the right feeling to push hard, and I expected a bit more after my pace in FP4. But it was the first MotoGP qualifying session of my career, and it’s not a bad position to start in for tomorrow. I have consistent pace and we’ll see if we can learn from the top riders tomorrow and have a good race.”

Contact Us

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Start typing and press Enter to search