“Extreme set-up change” sees Alex Rins go directly into Q2

Alex Rins was the only rider aboard Japanese machinery to claim a top ten spot during second practice for the Catalunya MotoGP.

Rins already flashed such potential at the beginning of the time attack runs in this afternoon’s all-important Practice session, however, the bigger surprise was that Rins backed it up when every rider was out on circuit.

Rins managed to finish ninth fastest before crediting a huge set-up change for his improved performance.

Rins began by saying: “Was a good day. It’s also important to go directly through to Q2. This helps to start in the middle of the group.

“This morning we were struggling a lot with the rear grip. It looks like this track is different from my usual feeling. What do I mean by that?

“Usually when the track has no grip I feel quite confident, we find the traction, the grip, but this morning it was not like this. I was struggling a lot.

“We changed the bike completely with the set-up and I was feeling much better. We were working a lot on the sprint race and trying to control the tyre.

“It was a good day because we were able to improve a lot from the morning to the afternoon.”

Asked in further detail about the change Yamaha made to his M1, Rins said: “It was something completely new and we did an extreme change.

“Usually we are doing small steps on the forks, the rake but today it was a big step.”

But despite the improved performance, Rins said it was not directly linked to the new aero package introduced by Yamaha at the recent Mugello test.

“In this track I don't think it helps a lot,” said Rins. “With the lack of grip the problem is more on the rear than on the front or corner speed.

“It helps with this fairing and I felt like I could do a little bit more corner speed. 

“The bike holds the line better but we have more problems on the rear than the front.

“It was much better in Mugello. Maybe 0.2s faster. In the end, as a rider you always want more than 0.2s. But 0.2s every lap is a lot.”