It was a positive Saturday for both Team Suzuki Ecstar riders Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins, with the two ending FP4 at the top of the timesheets - indicating they'll have fantastic race pace come Sunday.
Qualifying also went well for the Hamamatsu factory, with Rins edging out Iannone in Q2 by a tantaslising 0.003 seconds to start from sixth on the grid. The Spaniard himself just 0.072 seconds off P2 – with the times incredibly close between second and ninth. The Argentina rostrum man said it will be interesting to see how he gets on in the race, with the times being so close.
“Yes, today was really good keeping the same work that we did yesterday. Yesterday we focused a little bit on the set up and today we focused on the fast lap. Everything is very close, all the riders are on the same time. In the race it will be interesting to see how we do, but we need to enjoy it.” Rins continued, “we are working on the right line, our bike has good potential and I’m really excited about it (the race).”
On the other side of the garage, Iannone - who launches from P7 - was also upbeat about his chances in the race, with the Italian confident they can stay with the leading group. “Unfortunately, in the qualifying, everybody was very close, there were lots of riders with the same lap times, it’s unbelievable,” said the Italian. “But in any case, we can stay with the group, we are strong and for sure tomorrow we’ll try our best.”
With one podium each from the opening three rounds this season, both Suzuki riders will be aiming to spray the Champaign at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto to carry on their great start to 2018.