Crew chief calms Rins' wheelie concerns, Suzuki has 'something' at Mugello

Already fearing the lack of a ride-height device will hurt Suzuki on the fast Mugello straight this weekend, Alex Rins was 'a bit scared' at the ground he was losing due to wheelies when watching replays of MotoGP's most recent 2019 Italian race.

Despite the issue, Rins finished that event in fourth place, just 0.535s from Ducati race winner Danilo Petrucci.

But that was before the introduction of ride-height systems, an extension of the holeshot device which allows riders to lower the back of the bike onto the straights providing greater acceleration and less aerodynamic drag.

All of the grid except Suzuki now has the device available, with Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco setting a new all-time MotoGP speed record at Qatar earlier this year. Going off previous seasons, the Mugello speeds should be even quicker.

"This is the question everybody is asking; What will happen with the Ducati speed this year with the rear device?" said Rins.

"I was checking the race from 2019, and we were losing a lot, especially on the straight, but a lot on the wheelie area when exiting from the last corner.

"I was a bit scared so I called my crew chief Manu, 'Hey Manu, I checked again the race and we were losing a lot in this area', and he said 'yes, don't worry, we have improved a lot the wheelie area. After this race in 2019 we were pushing a lot to improve this side, and we will not have wheelie in that phase'.

"So for sure we will improve on the straight. But yeah, let's see where we are in terms of speed with the Ducatis, with the Honda, with KTM who are also using the [ride-height] device, with Yamaha..."

But Rins also revealed that Suzuki has something else up its sleeve to help mitigate the top speed deficit this weekend.

"We still don't have this [ride height] device but we have something for this race, I can't say anything, but for sure we will have more speed than in other races.

"It's something completely new. We haven't tested it yet, but in Japan they believe it will work, but it's not a big change.

Rins arrives at Mugello seeking his first points since Qatar, after falling in the last three races.

"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling quite confident. We analysed everything from Le Mans, I hope that we did a good plan for Mugello. And I'm quite optimistic.

"We know this track will not be easy with the [ride height] devices for Ducati, Honda and Yamaha but we will give our 100%."