Optimistic Mir and Rins 6th and 10th on Aragon grid

Joan Mir: 6th – 1’47.679
Alex Rins: 10th – 1’48.035

Saturday morning’s FP3 session at Aragon was pushed one hour later than usual to allow the Spanish circuit time to warm up. Despite this, a cautious approach was still taken by Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders.

Towards the end of the session it was necessary for Joan Mir and Alex Rins to protect their positions in the Top 10 and the pair managed it well, finishing FP3 in sixth and ninth on combined times.

FP4 saw Mir settling into an impressive rhythm with consistently quick lap times, as well as trying tyre options and finalising settings and he closed FP4 in third after a string of six fast laps, and a total of 15 laps. Similarly, Rins also proved to have great pace over the course of 13 laps, and he closed the highly competitive FP3 in 11th.

The Team Suzuki Ecstar duo took to Q2 with confidence, going second and third on their first lap out of the pits. On his second run, Mir managed a 1’47.679 to get into sixth place, and he defended this spot until the chequered flag, taking a second-row grid spot and marking his best qualifying since the Styrian Grand Prix.

Rins lost one lap due to a small moment, but he still managed a decent 1’48.035, completing Q2 in 10th place.

Sunday’s revised schedule means MotoGP Warm-Up will now be at 11:00hrs local time, and the race at 15:00 local time.

Joan Mir:

“I’m really happy about the work that the team and I did today. We took some steps forward compared to yesterday; I feel great with the bike and my race pace is strong. I also had an improvement in terms of qualifying, which is something I really wanted to do. So I’ll start from the second row tomorrow and I hope to continue with my feeling and see what I can do in the race.”

 

Alex Rins:

“FP4 today went really well and I focused a lot on being consistent and having a solid race pace, this paid off and I feel good with the bike. I struggled to get one hot lap in qualifying, but 10th on the grid is not too bad. Our bike works well here and if it’s a bit warmer tomorrow it could be even better.”