After the two-week break that followed the GP of Assen, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR is heading to Germany for the ninth round of the MotoGP™ season this weekend, on the same Sachsenring circuit that last year saw Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaró race with a special livery dedicated to the GSX-R’s 30th Anniversary. 

The German circuit is a very unique one, with many corners on the left that will require a special attention to the set-up, and for a wise management of the tyres. Last year’s race was a fun one for the Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders; the two GSX-RRs fought with each other in a spectacular duel until the very end of the race, finally scoring 10th and 11th places.

The history of the Sachsenring circuit is a recent one; initially born as a natural evolution of an open-road race track, it was completely renewed in 2001 to be capable to host bigger events. With a total length of 3.7 km (2.28 miles) and a 700 metre-long straight it is one of the slowest tracks of the championship, comprising only three right-hand corners and 10 left-hand corners.

Maverick Viñales:

“The race in Assen was not so positive for us in terms of the result, but we took advantage from the lessons we’ve learned there. It was the first time for me and the GSX-RR in such a heavy rain and the experience we got will be very useful for us in case of another rainy race. This is the positive we can take out of it. The German round will be interesting as well; the Sachsenring is very peculiar, last year’s battle with Aleix was fierce and we had a lot of fun, but our global performance has improved a lot since 2015, therefore I expect to be more competitive than the 11th place of last year. This year we have already proved to be capable of fighting with the leaders, it’s not an easy thing, it never is, but it’s something achievable and we must find a better consistency to be always close to the top.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“The German race will be very peculiar, the track layout will be very demanding for the tyres as it has many left corners and also the rider is required to be wise in order to manage the tyre performance in any conditions, and also on the few right corners. It’s a nice challenge, last year was emotional for the special livery we had and was fun because we had two Suzuki’s fighting with each other. Many things have changed since last year, we are performing better, although we still miss consistency. We need to work hard to find a better way to finalise the machine and be fast in any conditions, we are getting more and more into the machine’s workings, but I believe we still can do better and this is our primary objective.”