The Suzuki rider finished his weekend very well and did well both in the race and in the Championship.
Alex Rins arrived at the Japanese Grand Prix very motivated given that his Suzuki team is racing at home throughout the weekend. He started slowly with a nineteenth place in FP1. He took the opportunity to test a certain number of things in preparation for the rest of the free sessions. Unfortunately, in the afternoon it started to rain and FP2 took place in mixed conditions that the Spanish driver does not like. Uncomfortable, he finished thirteenth.
Saturday was more productive. First eighth in FP3, he then finished seventh in FP4 before qualifying eighth. Satisfied with his pace, he was quite confident for today, and he was right! Having made a good start, he remained in ambush behind the leading group for a long time before going on the offensive.
Even if he did not manage to take second place from Cal Crutchlow, he still finished on his third podium of the season and this allowed him to pass his teammate Andrea Iannone, in the Championship by five points. A good operation for Rins who leaves Japan delighted: “I'm really happy, and the team is too, especially because Japan is their home Grand Prix. We had a great race. I was able to overtake riders at the start and have a good pace. After Andrea fell, I assessed the situation and figured that Crutchlow was probably too far ahead, but I decided to try and catch up. It was difficult to overtake him because he was braking really hard. In the end we finished in third place and are very happy about it. I'm still learning and, although it's hard, it's great to fight against the other drivers. We will try to conclude this season with other podiums! »
Japanese Grand Prix, Motegi, MotoGP J.3: Ranking
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 42'36.438
2 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda +1.573
3 42 Alex RINS Suzuki +1.720
4 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha +6.413
5 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati +6.919
6 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha +8.024
7 25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +13.330
8 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda +15.582
9 9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati +20.584
10 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha +24.985
11 21 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda +25.931
12 38 Bradley SMITH KTM +26.875
13 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM +27.069
14 89 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha +32.550
15 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +37.718
16 10 Xavier SIMEON Ducati +39.583
17 81 Jordi TORRES Ducati +39.839
18 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +42.698
19 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia +49.943
20 12 Thomas LUTHI Honda +52.707
21 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki +1'01.848
Not Classified
29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 10 Laps
17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 12 Laps
43 Jack MILLER Ducati 14 Laps
41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 18 Laps
