Alex Rins lines up 2nd for the #PortugueseGP, Joan Mir 9th

Saturday’s sunshine brought ideal conditions for the FP3 session in Portugal that meant Friday’s times were dropping and the riders had to fight for direct passage to Q2. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s riders were on good form, putting in some quick laps. Alex Rins was able to finish the session inside the Top 10 with fifth, and Joan Mir was a few tenths of a second behind in 12th.

FP4 saw the usual plan; the Suzuki pairing trying the tyre options and putting in race simulations. They closed this session with Mir in 10th and Rins in 12th.

Mir did a brilliant job in Q1, bringing his lap times down and holding onto a crucial second place to allow him into final qualifying. This last session of the day saw tight times and plenty of drama and Rins and Mir were determined from the get-go, feeling strong with their GSX-RR machines.

On Rins’ final flying lap he got himself into an excellent front row position with third, meanwhile Mir was in 10th. But in the final moments of qualifying Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia had a lap cancelled due to a yellow flag infringement and this promoted the Suzuki riders to second and ninth – their best qualifying of the season so far and the first front row start since the European GP last November.

Alex Rins:

“It’s always important to start as far up the grid as possible, but of course the front row is the best and I’m happy to be here in 2nd place. I pushed really hard and I felt great on the bike, and this encourages me for tomorrow because I feel that I can get a good start and be with the front group from the start. The race won’t be easy, because Fabio and the others have a lot of pace, but I’m ready for it.”

Joan Mir:

“Being outside of the Top 10 always makes it tougher because you have to come through from Q1 and for sure that’s not ideal because you have one less tyre available. We had good speed and I felt good, but it’s harder when you’ve already used up one tyre. Anyway, my race pace is strong and I feel confident for tomorrow, but it’s the same story as always; I’ll have to work hard at the start to recover positions. I’ll do the best job I can and I’m excited to race here.”