Austin seems far away for Alex Rins, the ace of aces in Texas, who will not build castles for Honda in Spain. In a delicate situation on Friday, the one who won 50% of the last six successive races between the end of the 2022 season and the start of it could not do better than an 18th place at the end of qualifying. A risky position and this was verified with the chaotic start of the Sprint race. The rest is he who tells it…
The latest winner of a MotoGP Grand Prix started from 18th place on the grid, which meant he had a front-row seat to see the accident caused by Franco Morbidelli and which also led Alex Marquez as Marco Bezzecchi. He had the delicacy to avoid his colleagues in distress and in danger in the middle of the melee before relaunching in the Sprint like the rest of the happy troop. But with no more success.
alex rins tried to push to take a few points, but he was unable to perform as hoped due to a lack of feeling when braking. He crossed the finish line 13th, therefore out of the points, the accounting of which begins in ninth position in this case. “ We need to improve braking feel » says the former Suzuki man.
Alex Rins: “ we knew it was going to be difficult on this track »
« We struggled but we knew it was going to be difficult on this track. Regarding the Sprint, I was able to avoid the other drivers who fell in front of me and then it was complicated in the fast turnss”. He finishes : " Monday's test will give us useful information. We are still learning and trying to improve with this bike ».
We still do not know whether, in the absence of Marc Marquez, it is the LCR pilot who will test the new features and other developments that the HRC wants to evaluate on Monday May 1st. But what is certain is that it will not be Taka Nakagami. The Japanese is however the least poorly classified of the drivers Honda on the starting grid of this Spanish Grand Prix, since he is in 11th place. Alas, after narrowly avoiding a Morbidely on the ground after the first start of the Sprint, he finished this race in the gravel trap after the competition restarted…
« The feeling with these hot conditions was quite positive at the restart » says the Japanese. “ I managed to overtake other riders and tried to get away and keep my pace, but I couldn't. I lost the front. It was like slow motion, and I couldn't do anything. It was unfortunately a great opportunity to finish in the top five or six. The bike is good in hot conditions, but if Sunday is the same we will use the hard front tire because the medium gets too hot ».
MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix Sprint Results at Jerez:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
