Alex Rins has enjoyed a series of strong winter test sessions aboard the GSX-RR, topping Sunday’s session in Qatar; ending the final preseason test 3^rd overall, just 0.385s off the fastest time set by Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales.

Since his MotoGP debut Rins has impressed with strong results and multiple podium finishes. He said at the conclusion of Monday’s test session, that the feeling on the new Suzuki was “incredible” and praised the Hamamatsu factory’s efforts over the winter break. “Our feeling was incredible,” Rins glowed. “As you can see in the timesheets, we are P11 on Monday, P3 in general. When we pushed for a laptime on the final day we suffer a small crash on the second corner.. but anyway we are on the good way.”

“All the requests I asked of Suzuki this winter, they produced, and it’s very positive because it’s not easy to develop the bike when you have a good base. I feel quite happy.”

When asked where he felt the GSX-RR has improved specifically over the course of testing, he added, ”We improved a little bit the braking stability, a little bit on the top speed, a little bit on the electronic area.”

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Rookie team-mate Joan Mir lead the final Qatar test session at one stage, placed 12^th on combined times. Mir believes he has the potential to run close to the leaders in his MotoGP debut next weekend.

“I’m really happy about the pace we have, and also about my feeling with the bike,” said Mir. “We’ve made another step forward, which is really important for the race. We feel well prepared for the start of the season, although I couldn’t quite get the lap time I wanted due to a small mistake on my flying lap. But I feel I have potential; and I’m close to the pace of the top guys, just a couple of tenths per lap down on them. There’s always more work to do, but overall I feel positive about what we’ve achieved in these days.”

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