Suzuki unable to turn potential into results, Mir 'disappointed'

Suzuki’s step in top speed was one of the big surprises heading into the Qatar MotoGP race.

A year on from Joan Mir losing a podium after being overtaken by two Ducatis between the final corner and finish line, the GSX-RRs of Mir and Alex Rins were suddenly challenging Ducati’s speed chart supremacy.

That continued in the race, where Mir set both the highest single speed (357.6km/h) and average top speed (354.8).

Having made such dramatic progress with their main weakness, both Mir and Rins were tipped as favourites for the 22-lap grand prix despite eighth and tenth in qualifying.

But it wasn’t to be. After good early progress to fourth by Mir, the former world champion crossed the finish line in a subdued sixth, one place ahead of Rins.

“Honestly, a disappointing race. I was expecting more,” confessed Mir. “The start was good and I was enjoying the first lap but then I started to have some trouble with rear grip that I didn’t expect.

“Normally we are good in this area and it is where I take care a lot but it was like this. Let’s try to understand why and what we can do to be better on the last laps. It is difficult to understand honestly.”

One suggestion was that the increase in Suzuki horsepower may have come at the expense of tyre life.

“No, I don’t think it is for this reason,” insisted Mir. “We made a race a lot faster than last year, which means that the bike improved, but it looks like the others improved also.

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“It is difficult to understand because we always had that [tyre life] advantage and be strong at the end of the race and this time the grip was never coming.

“Our bike is better this year and has improved in a lot of areas but one in which we still need to work is this one of rear grip. But we don’t need to restructure the whole bike to find this traction.”

Rins also struck grip issues, but with the front of his bike.

“It was a bit strange today, because I suffered a little bit in the first part of the race when it came to overtaking the other riders,” Rins said. “But then when I was alone on the track, and wanting to close the gap up to Joan, I pushed a lot but I didn’t feel very good in the corners; So instead of ending in the gravel I wanted to bring the bike home.”

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“This weekend we showed the potential of our riders and our bike, but in the end we couldn’t turn this into really top results,” admitted Suzuki technical manager Ken Kawauchi.

“It’s a pity but it’s only the first race of the season, and the first with our new bike. We will continue to learn and see how our bike performs at the next circuits, which are all very different.”

New team manager Livio Suppo said: “For sure these aren’t the results we hoped for, especially after the strong pace on Friday, but anyway we still feel positive because the race was super-fast up front and both Joan and Alex had good pace.

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“We also saw how much the bike has improved on the straights, so that will be useful in the coming races.

“We need to analyse the data to understand exactly what we lacked today. It’s a long championship and it’s good that both our riders scored points and got off to a decent start; we are looking forward to Indonesia in a couple of weeks.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to the Gresini family. I am sure Fausto would be proud of their job.”

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