Ales Rins finished a sodden Indonesian Grand Prix in a solid fifth place, salvaging a good result in what was a difficult weekend for Team Suzuki. Joan Mir finished sixth.
Despite a good test at the Mandalika circuit earlier in the year, Friday and Saturday presented the team with some challenges, though Rins was still able to progress directly to Q2, despite feeling under the weather over the weekend.
For Mir, however, the weekend was shaping up to be a disaster, and he qualified down in 20th.
However, the heavens opened prior to the race, forcing a delay that, at one point, threatened to cancel the whole affair.
Thankfully for the fans, the rain abated and racing was able to get underway, but the track remained very wet.
Both riders made impressive starts, with Mir climbing into the top 10 on lap one, while Rins launched himself into podium contention.
As the race - shortened from 27 to 20 laps for safety reasons - wore on, Rins slipped back from the podium fight but elected to keep it safe rather than push and risk too much.
He settled into fifth place, while Mir circulated behind him a safe sixth place, ensuring both riders brought home solid championship points from a challenging weekend.
Rins said, "Luckily we were able to start the race; I was very worried about the conditions and didn’t know if it could go ahead.
"It was a tough race, I made a good start and tried everything to get on the podium, but after some big moments on the front end I tried to calm down and be smoother. When [Johann] Zarco and [Fabio] Quartararo passed me, I saw that they had better pace than me, and I realised that I couldn’t do more without big risk. So, I took fifth place, which isn’t bad for such a difficult race and a hard weekend where I’ve struggled with my physical condition. I’m happy to get points and I want to continue with consistency."
Mir added, "I’m really happy about my comeback; I started from the back of the grid and finished close to the top group. In the end I was able to get a better feeling with the bike which allowed me to be faster.
"We’ve worked hard all weekend and we’ve discovered some things, although we were mostly planning for dry settings! In the race I was struggling a bit to get the bike stopped, but I was able to start well and hold a decent position. It’s a pity for me that it was shortened to 20 laps, because I started to feel better as the race went on.
"Anyway, we collected some points and it is early days. We head to Argentina next and let’s see how we can perform there, we hope to build on our package."