Alex Rins 11th in Texas qualifying

The second day of action at the Circuit of the Americas proved tricky as the predicted rain arrived and caused mixed conditions. However, Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins were still able to find useful settings and adjustments, and work with dry setups and tyres.

The morning FP3 session started dry, giving the opportunity for riders to improve on their Friday times and aim for direct passage into Q2. Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s riders were able to maintain the strong pace they showed during FP1 and FP2, and this ensured they would fight it out in the final qualifying session.

Despite rain following FP3, Iannone and Rins could start the useful FP4 session with slicks and continue to try different dry tyre combinations.

Both riders were confident coming into the high pressure 15 minute Q2 session. Alex Rins’ precision riding earned him several good laps but the Spaniard lost his final ‘flying lap’ whilst setting a personal best in the first two splits, he completed the session 11th with a 2:05.260.

Alex Rins:
“I expected more from the qualifying, but the race is tomorrow. We will try to work hard to get the good feeling back and prepare for the race. Overall I can`t feel confident in different areas; the circuit, the tyres, myself. But I think we have a big margin to improve. Andrea did well, so at least we know the bike works well here, but we have to find out how to improve tomorrow.”