The ‘Cathedral of Speed’ was fast furious throughout the weekend, and last Sunday’s MotoGP race was no exception. Assen Circuit stayed dry and the pace was hot from the get-go. Alex Rins, from the second row, was able to get a good start and Andrea Iannone soon joined him, also making good progress from his 9th slot start.
The pair began to mix it in the leading group, and as the frantic and combative race got closer with each lap, Alex Rins used his good feeling and form at Turn 5 to great effect; passing several riders there and constantly placing himself in podium contention.
The young Spaniard executed a brave move on Marc Marquez for 2nd place with 15 laps to go. In the final laps, he pushed hard once again and completed a great pass on Maverick Viñales before the final chicane, fighting all the way to the flag for his second podium of 2018.
“[In the] morning I was feeling really sick, some problems with my stomach. But the doctors at Clinica Mobile gave me some medicine and it took away the pain, so I must really thank them because when I felt better I thought ‘wow, this will be my race!’. It was a fantastic battle and I learned a lot of things during the race”, Rins commented.
Alex Rins happy with a superb second place at Assen
“Our race pace was good and I was able to enjoy it! There were a lot of overtakes and tight moves, so I was always trying to push to stay with the others and hold my space. I feel very positive with my bike and with my team, we all really want to improve and win. We’ve had a really competitive bike since Qatar, but we’ve been able to change a few things to get extra power and better performance, so I hope I can stay at the top for the next races too. I feel confident for Sachsenring.”
We did it again!! Thanks @suzukimotogp really hard race! Finally P2? pic.twitter.com/SxWywwTyms
— Alex Rins (@Rins42) July 1, 2018
Meanwhile, Andrea Iannone managed to keep himself in the top 10 throughout the race, despite struggling with rear grip and movement
But a 2-second penalty for over-running turns 15-18 demoted him to 11th place.
“It was a bit of a difficult race. From the beginning, I had problems with the bike moving a lot, so I struggled with this problem. But together with the engineers, we’ll try to resolve it. We’ve already tried a few things, but we won’t give up until we find the solution. We have good one-lap pace, but we need to improve race pace and tyre longevity. I was on the limit a lot and for that reason, I made a mistake, but sometimes it’s like this in racing. I’m really happy for Alex, he made a really good race and it shows our potential. I hope I can use all of my potential soon too. My pace was good and I was quite close to the front group, so our target for Sachsenring is to try to improve a few things and stay closer to the front”, Iannone said.
What a ride by this guy yesterday ?
First time leading a #MotoGP race and a first premier class podium for @Rins42 ?#ArgentinaGP pic.twitter.com/wV5Hl6vxG0
— MotoGP™? (@MotoGP) April 9, 2018
