Alex Rins announced the color as soon as he arrived at Honda from Suzuki: he would not be content to carry out current affairs on an RC213V under development guided by Marc Marquez. Its ambition is to also impose its technical mark as on the entire HRC project to achieve success at least equivalent to that experienced on the GSX-RR. And the Spaniard married words to actions by impressing his new boss Lucio Cecchinello with his working method while he sees the installation of Ken Kawauchi, also from Suzuki, as an opportunity to take over at Honda…
alex rins doesn't just work on the track with his MotoGP. He also works a lot on himself and those around him, both personally and professionally. He doesn't give up when it comes to the clock but also when it comes to politics and strategy in the team. One last characteristic which has not escaped the boss of his now LCR team. The latter recounts what surprised him while observing him during the three days of Sepang testing.
Lucio Cecchinello begins with this compliment: “ I'm quite happy to be able to work with Rins, it's an honor. He is a professional athlete, although I would like to mention that we have always had professional runners… But Rins is a very precise person ". The Italian explains: “ he wants to know every detail, he even wanted to know before the test how many laps we had planned per day. Then his nutrition expert in Spain created for him an exact menu and diet tailored to the number of rounds. It was quite surprising to me. This shows that he has a professional environment ».
Alex Rins: “Ken Kawauchi knows me very well and he also knows my riding style"
« Alex focuses on his work and ensures that the environment is positive », Declares the man who was a former 125 Grand Prix driver. So far, it seems he has taken a liking to motorcycling. It needed some improvement after the first impressions in November, particularly in terms of power delivery. Honda has been working in this area ever since, he is much more comfortable now. His sitting posture also improved by 90%.. But we still have to change something because his legs are touching the gas tank. These are details ».
It remains that from the point of view of results, Alex Rins, who won two of the last three races of the 2022 season, cannot perform miracles on a Honda which is not up to par. He did not go beyond 19th place, after a fall on the last day, while his teammate Taka Nakagami found himself in 21st place. They lost more than a second on Luca Marini's best time on the Ducati GP22.
More Kidneys also works behind the scenes... And for him, the arrival of Ken Kawauchi is a real boon from which he intends to make the most of: “ it's hard to say whether they're doing a good job or not. You will see after the season. But I trust Kawauchi-san and Honda » he comments on speedweek. Kidneys and Kawauchi-San have known each other since 2017 thanks to their time together at Suzuki.
Enough to lay the foundations of a privileged relationship at HRC… “ I regularly shared my impressions with Kawauchi and also with Kokubu-San. I expect Kawauchi can make good contributions to Honda. He has a lot of experience, he worked for Suzuki for many years, he worked there from 2015 until the end » Kidneys finished : " If he can now bring all his knowledge to Honda, that would be perfect. He knows me very well and he also knows my driving style. The Honda is quite different from the Suzuki ».
