To say Suzuki had a tough start to the weekend would be an understatement. The absence of Alex Rins complicated things, as it was not possible to ask his replacement Takuya Tsuda to try settings, and The Maniac was left alone to fine-tune the GSX-RR.
The free practice sessions were not brilliant, with a final eleventh place, but above all a huge gap of 0.912 compared to the leader Dani Pedrosa. The situation seemed complicated, but the Suzuki team continued to work continuously, ultimately having a much more favorable Saturday.
FP4 was nothing extraordinary with the fifteenth time, but the gap was reduced to 0.7, proof that the evolution was positive. The qualification was brilliant, with the fifth time, 0.495 behind Dani Pedrosa. Andrea will therefore start from the second row of the starting grid between the two Yamahas of Maverick Vinales and John Zarco.
According to Andrea Iannone, who are " I think we did well in qualifying today. I am very happy because yesterday we had a very difficult start and we managed to recover. The bike had a bad feeling yesterday, but we did a great job and prepared it well so we could have a better performance today.
“This is among Suzuki’s main strengths. Our group is responding very well. They never give up, and we always improve a lot. It is important to start from the second line. In previous races I always had a good pace in the race, but I had to pay for the bad starting position, so the second row is a good chance to have a positive race. The top three drivers are really strong, but we will do our best. »
For his team manager Davide Brivio, « Today we can be happy with Andrea's improvement compared to yesterday. He feels much better on the bike. He has regained his sensations and now he feels confident. We also managed to improve the electronics, which had given us some problems.
“I have to thank our group of engineers who did a good job. Thanks to this, finally, Andrea gained more confidence. Starting from the second row is a powerful incentive and a great motivation for a driver.
“Tomorrow during the warm up we will try to do a little fine tuning, then I think Andrea will have the chance to do well and follow the first group. »
Qualification results:
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 38.249s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 38.298s +0.049s
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 38.453s +0.204s
4. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 38.677s +0.428s
5. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 38.744s +0.495s
6. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 38.861s +0.612s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 38.908s +0.659s
8. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 38.910s +0.661s
9. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 39.108s +0.859s
10. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 39.125s +0.876s
11. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 39.152s +0.903s
12. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 39.400s +1.151s
13. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 39.090s
14. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 39.255s
15. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 39.282s
16. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 39.321s
17. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 39.462s
18. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 39.564s
19. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 39.678s
20. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 39.824s
21. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 39.906s
22. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 40.213s
23. Takuya Tsuda JPN Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 40.386s
