Racing in the wet can be a gamble but also a blessing, especially for riders who have nothing to lose. For the Ecstar Suzuki MotoGP team, the heavy rain at Motegi proved to be a beneficial with Andrea Iannone and rookie team-mate Alex Rins bagging top-five positions and doing it in front of Toshihiro Suzuki, CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation.

But is the nightmare over? The main problems remain on the dry, but Iannone and Rins’ results were a precious and necessary breath of fresh air, and a consequence of the two-day Aragon test in September 26 where the Suzuki riders, plus Sylvain Guintoli, tested a new chassis, engine and other new parts for the 2018 season. The positive feedback and laptimes were a sign the Japanese engineers are working in the right direction.

Suzuki also debuted a new aero package in Japan – the 'moustache' fairing –  which is the second type of Suzuki has used this year. "The new fairing for sure helps a little bit with the wheelie," said Iannone at the track. "I think it's interesting, because everybody this year has worked on this area. I'm very happy Suzuki arrived with these new parts.

“This was a race that I enjoyed. I had a good start and was able to keep a consistent pace. For the first 10-11 laps I stayed close to the group that counts, I was so confident that I also thought I could overtake. Then my tyres dropped before the other riders, but anyway fourth position is a very good result.

“It’s a good sign after the struggles we have faced this year. We still have much work to do and to improve, but compared to the beginning of the season, we are now more aware of where we can improve. We re-start the season from Motegi”.

“I think it has been the best weekend of the season so far,” echoed Rins. “The result is fantastic and the bike has worked pretty well in wet conditions during the whole weekend. The race was very positive. I started a bit far back when in the first corners someone forced me to go wide and I lost some more positions, falling back to 15th.

“It took me some time to regain my position in the race, but I finally managed it and finished in fifth. I lost some time stuck behind Zarco but the conditions of track were not easy. I can say I learnt so many things and now we are facing the Australian race with more optimism.”

Iannone also looks forward to the Australian round. “In the winter test at Phillip Island, we struggled a lot but we arrive in there in a different situation. The latest test in Aragon was very helpful to understand the bike better and I arrive also with the confidence that in Japan we had a good race pace.”

Team Manager Davide Brivio is probably breathing a big sigh of relief after a result in front of the big cheese: “We scored a great result considering the struggles we encountered throughout the season. It was an important result with both riders in the top five, and with our President and all the Management with us in the garage.  We gave them a good show to enjoy.

“Andrea had a good pace the whole race. Alex Rins was made a great recovery from the 15th to the fifth place, and he did it perfectly. This result gave us some breathing room. We are aware that the Japanese race was run in peculiar conditions, but it’s important we haven’t made any mistakes.”