The Suzuki rider had a complicated weekend on the Thai track but finally found solutions in the race. He leaves with a positive result and consolidates his place in the Championship, while getting closer to his teammate.
Alex Rins had finished fifth in the test carried out in February on the Buriram circuit and could therefore hope for a good result at the end of these three days. However, he had a complicated weekend and finished all his sessions quite far behind.
First fourteenth in FP1, he then finished fifteenth in FP2 then sixteenth in FP3, which did not allow him to progress directly to Q2. Things just got better in FP4 as he took the thirteenth time.
The Spanish driver managed to escape in Q1 to move on to Q2 and then gave his all but ultimately couldn't do better than eleventh, his best result of the weekend nonetheless. The race therefore looked complicated, but Rins continued to believe in his chances of fighting at the front if he managed to get a good start. That's exactly what he did, and after many fights, he moved up to fifth position. Overtaken by Johann Zarco on the last lap, he still finished sixth, a very good result considering his weekend: “I attacked hard from the start to try to reduce the gap with the leading group but I lost a lot of time fighting with other drivers. As I was pushing hard I put a lot of strain on my tires. Towards the end of the race I knew I had to drop my pace and I realized I could finish fifth or sixth, which isn't bad. In the end I just lost fifth place but I'm still happy. Things are going in the right direction and we now go to Japan which is a good Grand Prix for me and the team. »
He thus consolidates his tenth place in the Championship by having taken off on Dani Pedrosa and closing in on his teammate from whom he is only eleven points behind.
Thai Grand Prix, Buriram, MotoGP J.3: Ranking.
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 39'55.722
2 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +0.115
3 25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +0.270
4 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +1.564
5 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha +2.747
6 42 Alex RINS Suzuki +3.023
7 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +6.520
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati +6.691
9 9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +9.944
10 43 Jack MILLER Ducati +11.077
11 29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki +15.488
12 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha +17.691
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +21.413
14 21 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda +22.802
15 38 Bradley SMITH KTM +23.628
16 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia +23.804
17 17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati +32.507
18 10 Xavier SIMEON Ducati +37.216
19 81 Jordi TORRES Ducati +39.204
20 12 Thomas LUTHI Honda +39.421
21 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +53.388
22 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 2 Laps
Not Classified
26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 8 Laps
