Eighth place for Alex Rins in challenging Austrian GP
Austria’s Red Bull Ring offered a little bit of everything to the riders for Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship, and after two days of mixed conditions the sun shone for Warm-Up on Sunday morning, where both Iannone and Rins showed good pace, with the Italian finishing the session in 4th.
From their grid positions of 8th and 10th, Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins were focused on getting strong starts for the 28 lap race. The Spaniard managed a superb start and rocketed his way up the order and into the front group. As the chequered flag came out Alex continued to run in 6th place until just a few laps from the end when he was overtaken by two riders. This 8th place finish resulted in useful points for Rins.
Alex Rins:
“We needed a very, very good start and I was proud of what I did. Also in the first few laps I was able to hold my position, then lap by lap and during the last part of the race when the tyre dropped off it was impossible for me to keep the rhythm and Rossi and Pedrosa passed me. I tried to stay with them but it was not possible. It’s something that usually, with my riding style, I don’t suffer with as much and I can even gain positions late in the race. But in the last two rounds it’s been the opposite. We need to continue to work on the last part of races because the team and bike have a lot of potential. Anyway, I’m excited to ride at Silverstone, I like it a lot, and I hope to do a good job there.”