Saturday’s sunshine brought ideal conditions as Alex Rins navigated his Ecstar Suzuki around the rollercoaster Portimao circuit to secure his first MotoGP front row of 2021. 

Securing direct promotion to Q2 after a strong performance in the opening morning practice, Rins used FP4 for the usual race simulations and tyre choice programme before the hard work began in the afternoon. 

Starting the session with high, then low 1’39 pace, the Spaniard’s final flying lap positioned his GSX-RR into an excellent front row position, in third. A tense conclusion to qualifying, however, saw Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia’s record-breaking lap cancelled due to a yellow flag infringement and the Suzuki rider was promoted to second - his best qualifying of the season so far and his first front row start since the European GP last November. 

“It’s always important to start as far up the grid as possible” Rins explained from the Portimao paddock, “but of course the front row is the best and I’m happy to be here in second place. I pushed really hard and I felt great on the bike, and this encourages me for tomorrow because I feel that I can get a good start and be with the front group from the start. The race won’t be easy, because Fabio and the others have a lot of pace, but I’m ready for it.

“Today was a good day for us” he continued. “Already yesterday was good for us, always towards the top. I'm quite happy because we know how difficult the qualifying is for MotoGP, especially with our bike, and we get it, we get this first row! 

“Let's see what we can arrive at tomorrow. I think it will be a very tight race, with a lot of riders in the front, with the Yamahas, Ducatis, let's see. It will be not easy, but we will try to manage well, with the tyres and everything.

The weekend’s fluctuating weather has created challenging conditions at times, with the riders unsure on Sunday’s outcome but the consensus on tyre usage looks to be in favour of the medium rear option. 

“Let's see with the temperature,” the Spaniard explained, “at the moment I prefer the medium one. We started FP4 with the hardest compound on the rear. In the beginning I was feeling good, but then it was very difficult to improve. I was losing a lot of grip on the rear tyre so immediately, I changed to the medium one and I was feeling much better. I think if the temperature doesn't change a lot for tomorrow, we will race with a medium” he concluded.