From the Sepang tests at the start of the year, Alex Rins achieved the sixth time in the standings at the end of January, 0.5 behind Jorge Lorenzo, before in Buriram he finished fifth, 0.3 behind Pedrosa. At the Losail tests, Andrea Iannone was sixth (at 0.4) and Rins eighth (at 0.6), which could suggest a good start to the season.
After thatalex rins obtained sixth place in qualifying at the Qatar GP, and Andrea Iannone the eleventh, the Italian crossed the finish line in ninth position, while the Spaniard fell while in seventh place.
This mishap does not now prevent Alex from arriving in Argentina in good spirits, on this circuit inaugurated on May 11, 2008.
To alex rins, “I'm positive going to Termas de Rio Hondo because this circuit has something special and I like it.
“I remember last year I arrived in Argentina with a foot injury, and despite that I have good memories of the track – which means it was really good!
“Another good thing about this place is the people: the fans are very close to us and the place turns into a big party welcoming the MotoGP people. »
According to Andrea Iannone, who are " I go to Argentina with positive feelings, because I remember that last year we were able to perform very well here. The circuit is one that I like and the GSX-RR is well suited to its layout.
“Last year my feelings were good, unfortunately we had a penalty (for early start), which put me out of the race for the first places, but the performance and the pace were very competitive.
“I expect good teamwork to help me improve session by session. We're going to work on all the little things that, when put together, can make for a good overall performance.
“The first races are always important to set the right direction for the rest of the season. I want to try to grab this GP 100%. »
According to the team manager Davide Brivio, « Argentina represents good memories for us, especially going back to 2015 and 2016, but we had a tougher time here last year.
“Alex arrived with an injured foot, which made riding quite difficult for him, while Andrea had a complicated race and we started to suspect problems with the machine which we had to start tackling.
“This year, I believe we can approach this second race with more confidence. In Qatar we had positive results from both riders and the GSX-RR is more competitive. It will be interesting to check further where we are with performance, our competitiveness and potential will become clearer and clearer with each race.
“I believe that for Alex it will be important to be consistent with the performance he achieved in Qatar, staying close to the best drivers both in testing and in the race.
“Also with Andrea we can be competitive, he took the positive experience from Qatar and we can improve his performance. It will be an interesting race. It's still early days but this could be a good opportunity to assess our performance for the rest of the season. »
Photos © Suzuki
