Rins trials new chassis as Suzuki evaluates race debut

Alex Rins has hinted he could get his hands on the latest GSX-RR by the next Assen TT MotoGP round after giving it a positive review during testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Spaniard topped the testing timesheets for much of the day after a series of quick laps on the chassis he raced to fourth in Sunday’s Catalunya MotoGP.

However, he was also given the opportunity to ride the modified machine ridden by Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli as Suzuki continues to evaluate when to roll it out for Rins and team-mate Joan Mir.

Though Rins admits he felt a change in the way the bike turns in – considered a strong trait of the current machine – he was more positive about the greater confidence he now feels on the brakes.

For now, Rins is unsure when he will get to race the bike, not least because the next two races at Assen and the Sachsenring are tipped to suit the current machine’s handling-focused set-up. Nonetheless, he says he has full faith in his Suzuki Ecstar team to calculate the best direction for him to pursue.

“I don’t know [when it will come],” said Rins, who ended the day fourth on the timesheets. “The team needs to check because it has positive points but for turning it is a bit difficult.

“Nothing big but we need to evaluate which chassis we will use. It’s more difficult for turning but on brakes I feel more confident.

“I trust on my guys and they will analyse 110% to see what we gain on brakes, if it is better than turning. Here I just had problems on one corner, the rest of the corners we are coming good.”

Looking forward, Rins also suggested he would like to try updates that could give the Suzuki a greater advantage in a straight line having struggled relative to Ducati and Honda in Mugello and Catalunya.

“I would like to try something, Suzuki is working hard on this so I hope some modifications to try soon.”