Alex Rins has revealed he set his Friday-topping 1:59.608s lap in MotoGP practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix on the Suzuki which caught fire on Thursday in pitlane.
One of Rins' GSX-RR's burst into flames when an overflow of fuel sprayed onto the bike's exhaust while his crew were warming up the machine in pitlane on Thursday afternoon at Sepang.
Amazingly, the Suzuki team was able to salvage 80 percent of the bike and had it completely rebuilt in time for Friday practice.
Rins was sixth fastest in FP1, before setting the best lap of the day in the afternoon session on the bike damaged in the fire with a 1:59.608s to go 0.093 seconds clear of the field.
“Yeah, was this bike, the one which caught fire [I set my best lap on],” Rins said following practice on Friday.
“I'm very happy because was really good. We have a good rhythm, also with the used tyre, so we have to keep working for improve small things but we are on a good way.”
Showing well at the pre-season test at Sepang in February, Rins has highlighted the changes made to the GSX-RR over the season, with the most notable upgrade coming in the form of greater top speed from the engine introduced at Assen in June.
“For sure the bike changed [since the Sepang test], because in Assen we change the engine and looks like it's a bit faster on the straight.
“Also the fairing is a little bit different, so with this package improvement we are able to be faster.
“We need to improve, we need to keep working on the braking area because I think we are losing a little bit. But for the rest it was good.”
It is believed no serious damage was sustained by the engine in Rins' bike in the fire, though the concession rules Suzuki run under meant he had a fresh unit available in his allocation anyway.
Teammate Andrea Iannone, who set the pace for much of practice last week in Australia, endured a low-key Friday at Sepang and was ninth on the combined times – nine tenths off the pace of his teammate.
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