Rins sets sights on the front after best qualifying

Alex Rins will launch his second MotoGP season from a best-yet sixth (+0.659s) on the grid, in Qatar on Saturday.

And the Suzuki rider feels he has more than one-lap pace, believing he can be part of what is predicted to be a big lead group of riders.

"I'm really happy. It's my best qualifying result. Now we need to be calm for tomorrow, focus on the start and try to get a good position on the first lap," said the Spaniard. "I think we have the rhythm to be at the front with the top guys. So I will try to go with them and learn as much as possible.

"The track is more dirty than the test. More-or-less the set-up is the same, we just adjust the suspension a bit for these conditions.

"Now I think that we have a really good set-up, really good adjustments. I think the confidence with the bike is the same as the test so I'm quite comfortable and I will try to do my maximum in the race."

Team-mate Andrea Iannone will start from eleventh position (+0.939s). The Italian, who feel while battling for a podium on his Suzuki debut one year ago, also feels he has a good pace, albeit with some concerns over top speed and tyres.

"Also this year the bike works well here, but we are a little bit more slow on the straight, I think everybody improved a lot the HP on the engine," he said. "Ducati more-or-less remained the same but Honda and Yamaha improve a lot and so we lose a bit on the straight.

"Today we tried without winglets for recover a little bit, but although it was positive on the straight, on the stability we lose a lot. Tomorrow we decide.

"For the tyres, on the rear we don't have a problem. Soft or medium is okay. On the front the soft is too soft and the medium is okay but after 10-12 laps we start to lose the front. But we have only these options for the race because the hard is too hard for us."

Never one to shy away from a battle, Iannone expects Sunday to be: "A big, big fight.

"I think we have a good chance but there are many, many riders with the same pace."