[kropotkin thinks...] - Suzuki's Davide Brivio On Jerez Testing, Improving Qualifying

[Ninjette Newsbot]

If you enjoyed reading this article, please click here to view it on Kropotkin's site, MotoGP Matters.

-----------------

It has been a good season so far for Suzuki, the Suzuki Ecstar team, and especially Alex Rins. The Suzuki rider won the race in Austin, finished a comfortable second at Jerez, and has not finished outside the top five all season. Rins sits in second place in the championship, a single point behind leader Marc Márquez.

The Suzuki GSX-RR is a much-improved bike over the winter. After the massive steps made in the second half of the 2018 season, a series of refinements during testing have turned the bike into a bona fide championship contender, and a machine to be feared by its rivals. At Jerez, where Andrea Dovizioso got a close up look at the bike of Rins, the factory Ducati rider was full of praise for the Suzuki.

"I think the Suzuki is better than all the bikes in turning," Dovizioso said. "Rins, when he overtook me, his speed in the middle of the corner was amazing. It’s impossible for me to understand but maybe in the hard braking they are not so strong. It didn’t look like it, but maybe they have some limits. When a big talent rides the bike it’s always difficult to see a bad point of the bike. But for sure in the middle of the corner they are so fast."

Testing spoilers

At the Monday test in Jerez, Suzuki brought a few more updates to test, most notably a new swing arm and their own version of the swing arm spoiler. The swing arm was rated a success, but the spoiler did not fare so well. Alex Rins ran into the gravel with the spoiler and damaged it beyond repair.

After the test, we spoke to Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio about the test, about the competitiveness of the GSX-RR, and about Alex Rins and his chances of winning the 2019 title. "At the end of the day, it's always useful to do this test, especially after four races, because you can start to guess at the problems you are having and the area where you can improve," Brivio said.