Source: Supplied.

Spanish talent Alex Rins made a positive first impression with Team Suzuki Ecstar on the opening day of 2017 MotoGP testing at Valencia on Tuesday, set for his rookie premier class season within the factory squad.

After finishing third in the 2016 Moto2 title-chase, Rins will make up one half of the all-new 2017 Suzuki team alongside proven MotoGP race winner Andrea Iannone, who has transferred from Ducati for next year.

“This day has been a very emotional one for me,” Rins said. “My priority, as agreed with Suzuki, was just to get a first taste of the machine, which is obviously very different from any machines I’ve ridden before. The most impressive thing, in my opinion, is the acceleration, which is really impressive.

“Today we started with the basic set-up and our plan was to start without any electronic control so that I could understand the machine’s performance without any filters. Then we gradually introduced some traction control and anti-wheeling, so that I could start to understand how the electronics-settings worked. The team gave me total support, everything is new and at a top level and I’m really enthusiastic of this first experience.”

Rins concluded the opening day of testing in 21st position overall with a fastest lap of 1m32.811s, 1.646s in arrears of Iannone as he also debuted the factory GSX-RR during Tuesday’s proceedings.