Rins ended the opening day of practice at the Qatar GP fastest of all after topping a tight FP2 with a 1m53.432s, with team-mate Joan Mir in third.
After a tough 2021 campaign blighted by a lack of development on the bike, Rins only managed one podium in a crash-strewn year while Mir couldn’t defend his title in third in the standings.
But Suzuki appeared to make huge gains over the winter with its 2022 bike, particularly with its engine – Rins topping the speed traps in both Qatar practices on Friday at 355.2km/h.
The three-time race winner says he can now “breathe” on straights, but “Suzuki needs to keep working”.
“We have extra confidence, Suzuki worked quite well,” Rins said on Friday. “But Suzuki needs to keep working. They did a good job on the engine side, but if they relax a little bit we are fucked.
“But today overall was quite good, I tried to follow someone on the straight and there was a good feeling. I was holding the slipstream, so at least we…
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