Along with the announcement that Franco Morbidelli will be leaving the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team next year, it was announced that Alex Rins, currently with LCR Honda, will be Fabio Quartararo’s teammate next year.
Rins is a very talented rider currently recovering from a leg injury. He is one of the most successful, if not the most successful, non-Ducati riders over the past year in terms of race wins. He has even won on the Honda this year (at COTA) despite the fact the bike has confounded Marc Marquez and Joan Mir.
Here is the press release from Yamaha, followed by a profile and biography of Rins:
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the signing of Alex Rins. He will be joining Yamaha‘s factory team rider line-up for the 2024 MotoGP season alongside Fabio Quartararo.
The vastly experienced Spaniard has many premier-class and lower-class race victories (6x MotoGP, 4x Moto2, 8x Moto3, 18 in total) and podiums (18x MotoGP, 17x Moto2, 23x Moto3, 58 in total) to his name. His vast experience and undeniable talent make him a fully qualified and welcome addition to the Yamaha rider line-up.
Following Rins‘ leg injury sustained in the 2023 Italian GP Sprint, MotoGP fans the world over eagerly anticipate his return to action. He underwent two surgeries and is working hard on making a full recovery.
LIN JARVIS
Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing
“We are delighted that Alex is joining the Yamaha line-up, and we warmly welcome him to the Yamaha MotoGP group.
We expect Alex to be a great asset. He has vast experience as a MotoGP rider and is known to be a natural talent and a multi-time MotoGP class race winner. He already has experience with two other MotoGP manufacturers and has ridden bikes with similar characteristics to the YZR-M1, which should help him adapt quickly to our bike. His win in COTA earlier this year underlines his speed, hunger, and determination to succeed.
Alex has been away from the MotoGP paddock for a while due to the injury he sustained at Mugello, but we are confident that he should be fully recovered and up to speed for the 2024 season. We are really looking forward to working with him and believe that he will collaborate well with Fabio and enhance the total performance of the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team.”
| Alex Rins, Personal Profile Date of Birth: 08-12-1995 Place of Birth: Barcelona Nationality: Spanish Height: 176cm Weight: 72 kg Grand Prix Debut: 2012 Qatar GP MotoGP Debut: 2017 Qatar GP First GP Win: 2013 Americas GP (Moto3) First Premier Class Win: 2019 Americas GP GP Wins: 18 (6x MotoGP, 4x Moto2, 8x Moto3) GP Podiums: 58 (18x MotoGP, 17x Moto2, 23x Moto3) Poles: 17 (4x Moto2, 13x Moto3) Alex Rins, Racing Career 2023 MotoGP World Championship (13th – 47 points) [Injured since the Italian GP Sprint] 2022 MotoGP World Championship (7th – 173 points) 2021 MotoGP World Championship (13th – 99 points) 2020 MotoGP World Championship (3rd – 139 points) 2019 MotoGP World Championship (4th – 205 points) 2018 MotoGP World Championship (5th– 169 points) 2017 MotoGP World Championship (16th – 59 points) 2016 Moto2 World Championship (3rd – 214 points) 2015 Moto2 World Championship (2nd – 234 points) 2014 Moto3 World Championship (3rd – 237 points) 2013 Moto3 World Championship (2nd – 311 points) 2012 Moto3 World Championship (5th – 141 points) Alex Rins, Rider Biography Alex Rins won the CEV in 2011 before moving up to the Moto3 World Championship in 2012 and gaining the title of Rookie of the Year. A title contender down to the last corner in 2013, with more wins and podiums, the Spaniard was just beaten to the crown by compatriot Maverick Viñales. After a more difficult 2014 affected slightly by injury, Rins moved to Moto2 for 2015 and was Rookie of the Year, taking two wins in his debut season in the intermediate class. A title challenger in 2016, the former National Champion finished the season in third after more impressive wins and podiums and moved up to MotoGP in 2017 with Team Suzuki Ecstar. Despite some trouble with injury and missed races, Rins was impressive and took some top-five results as a rookie – a good springboard for his sophomore season. He went on to take five podiums in 2018 and consistently fight at the front: another solid foundation for 2019. The next step was claiming a maiden MotoGP victory at the Americas GP before repeating the feat in Silverstone. 2020 was another outstanding year for the Spaniard as he claimed victory in the Aragon GP as well as podium finishes in the Catalan, Teruel, and European GPs, helping him achieve third overall in the Championship. 2021, however, was a year to forget for Rins, with crashes at crucial times costing him dearly. He had opportunities on no fewer than six occasions but only tasted podium success once, at the British GP. The Spaniard bounced back in 2022, delivering some superb performances despite real adversity. Top of the championship after five rounds, Suzuki‘s planned exit hit the team hard, resulting in a dip in form. But magnificent wins at Phillip Island and Valencia saw Rins finish the season as the in-form man, giving him great confidence heading into a new adventure with LCR Honda. He started this year strong, securing a dominant win at COTA, but a leg injury sustained in the Italian GP Sprint temporarily halted his 2023 campaign. Rins underwent two surgeries, missing the Italian, German, and Dutch GP. |
Sucks For Zarco. Frankie gets Bez’s Mooney Ducati seat, while Bez takes over for Zarco at Pramac Ducati. Zarco is and always has been really fast and really good, yet not quite good enough on Sunday to nab that elusive maiden victory, which he desperately needs on his resume.
In my mind Zarco will likely go down as the fastest MotoGP rider never to win a race.
Doubtful that Honda will tab him to replace Rins for the vacant LCR seat, considering his history with teams that provide him uncompetitive bikes, plus his age. Otherwise, what’s left? Raul Fernandez’s seat on the RNF Aprilia? Razlan Razali won’t want another older, shopworn veteran alongside Oliveira.
Perhaps Gresini could throw him a lifeline, handing him Di Gianntonio’s ride. I definitely would, if I were Gresini.
Anyway, this may be it for Zarco. I hope he can at least manage to secure a lame-duck victory or two on his way out the door, similar to what Rins did following the announcement that Suzuki was throwing in the towel.
Sounds like one option being explored is getting Bez the factory bike and keeping him at Mooney. That put’s Franco on Di Gianntonio’s Gresini bike & Zaarcoc sstays put.
I agree that if Bez moves, Franco is the only active rider who’d take that seat because he’s a VR46 guy. If they were to promote someone else up to it then he’d be stuck.
Yamaha couldn’t pass on Rins, so Franco’s out. Or is Morbidelli out from under the shadow of Yamaha? Yamaha needs a satellite team and VR46 is probably their target. Duc sees the brewing romance and cherry picks Baz to another team. Franco goes to VR46 and gets to taste the wicked delight of the current machine. The following year VR46 goes Yamaha, Franco’s back under Iwata’s shadow and the more it changes, the more it stays the same.
I hope Franco gets that Gresini Ducati seat. It’d be nice to see if he still has it.
I have to wonder what the deal is at Honda. It’s like they have some head narcissist and chief that has his own ideas about bike setup. No amount of bad results seem to sway the guy off of his obviously wrong headed ideas. So the team gets a Kalex chassis and right away MM looks faster. Right up until the team has had enough time to turn the thing back into one of their cartwheeling joy rides for fairing mites.
They need to find this guy and fire him so hard that his mom has to come out of retirement just so she can get fired along with him. Then maybe they should wait around for opportunities to fire his children and grand children. Or perhaps they could dig up dead ancestors to fire them as well.
And what’s up with Yamaha? Yamaha is Japanese for Cosworth. The very last thing you would expect a Yamaha to be is slow. But, well, me not get. This whole MotoGP thing reads like a dystopia novel.
Honda to Yamaha used to be big news. MotoGP now has all the thrill of watching an AI algorithm come up with a finishing position. What can be done? Will Honda admit that they need an RC-51 to beat Ducati at their own game? Or simply quit due to the fact they don’t agree with the direction of the sport in its current form?
RC-52
It’s one louder, isn’t it?
I suppose
Poor guy. Suzuki seemed to have been committed to having a competitive bike while they were there. Honda and Yamaha seem to be providing a bike for the best rider they can hire and hope that is enough. Rins is one of those guys. But put him and Fabs on fast bikes and you would have a better show.
Or maybe not. Without guys like Rins and Fabs. Honda and Yamaha would just be sweepers. That would be a sad state for a once mighty Japan. Those two companies thought they were so clever making GP four stroke. It’s not looking like such a good idea now is it? Beware the brawny Volkswagen. Who would have ever thought?
Oddly enough, it really seems to be working for Volkswagen. Ducati’s best selling bike is the V4 Multistrada. And it’s a pricey beast. Seen one? They don’t do a thing for me.
Drat, apparently not enough coffee. I was going merrily along till
“Those two companies thought they were so clever making GP four stroke”
needle scratch zzzzzzippprrravrrrrp
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP: ALWAYS READ THE USERNAME FIRST
Likin’ the needle scratch. Nailed it.
Really though. Two stroke GP was all about Japan.
Going four stroke eventually put them up against a European automotive giant. Those Ducatis are fast aren’t they? Go figure. Aprilia seems pretty mild mannered here in The States. But in Europe there are more MP3 on the road than cigarette butts in the 70s. It’s KTM that I find truly impressive. Stefan Pierer defines scrappy. He took a failing company and is keeping the world honest with it. It has taken KTM a while, but they are doing better than team Japan right now.
“Those two companies thought they were so clever making GP four stroke. It’s not looking like such a good idea now is it? ”
Well yes, it is looking good now. There is a broader range of competitive bikes and riders and the racing is way closer now than it was when Honda supplied almost the whole grid with bikes that couldn’t beat their own factory bikes.
That was when Honda had that 5 cylinder job that I thought was kind of cool, for a four stroke.
I can’t comment on the racing. I’ve been boycotting it since 2002. I look at the time sheets and read fan reactions. Right now the fans seem to think that it is a Ducati cup race, kind of like the Honda cup races you describe. There are less fans all the time. The guys who are winning are riding bikes that only weirdos like me buy, or used to buy, bag their current stuff. Companies like Honda and Yamaha make bikes for everyone. And right now they are taking a drubbing from a company that is willing to spend the money to humiliate them.
Dorna seems to think that people want to see more crashes now. That’s criminal. Enjoy the rest of the season as they attempt to cook or maim a bunch of young men with failed beards on The Morbid Channel. I guess the sprint race results should be up in a few hours. British track right? I’m thinking Binder.
No, that was when Honda had that 4-cylinder 2-stroke job that they’d lease to teams without suspension and wheels (also briefly a v-twin).
The fan comments you read are from tiny little internet corners, not the 125k+ fans that pay to watch at each race. You couldn’t read their comments in the 2-stroke era because the internet didn’t really exist then. They don’t care that MotoGP bikes aren’t like their bikes anymore than F1 fans care that the Honda engine in the Red Bull car isn’t like the engine in their Accord (or whether it’s really made by Honda at all). They want to see riders compete before machinery. Honda and Yamaha have more money than Ducati. They’re embarrassing themselves.
Dorna doesn’t want anyone to crash (which happened more commonly and violently in the 2-stroke era..). They just want to make a good show. You don’t know if it’s good or not because by your own admission, you don’t watch it. You just complain about it.
Yep, my point exactly. 2-strokes, due to their technological limitations when pushed yet the quest for maximum power, were mainly good at launching their riders into Kansas rather than finishing the race….
Well yes, but the delta being discussed here was the initial move from 2-strokes, which were basically unrideable beasts. Mick will bemoan this transition both in racing and production motorcycles to his grave and to anyone that will listen all along the way to it but the fact is engineering has moved on. The basic problem with 2 strokes is in fact trying to cram what happens in the 4 strokes into 2 and how to optimize that, and there’s no getting around it.
Honda or Yamaha it matters not. This guy can definitely ride as witnessed with Suzuki. But Honda and Yamaha are duds and he’ll use his health to compensate for that. Having a seat on Ducati, KTM, or Aprilia is the only good opportunity in the short term.
They Yamaha is sub par competitively but is arguably closer than the Honda, which is hurting its riders. Rins must be hoping Yamaha can find their way back or even make their bike like the Suzuki he rode before.
How the mighty have fallen..
Leaving Honda for Yamaha really says something about Honda.
leaving honda for yam tells me that all of the dukes, k-tees and apes were spoken for…
Touché
Tells me that a factory seat on a sub-par bike pays a lot more than a satellite seat on any other bike.
Good on him. I hope he doesn’t have to get back on that widow maker the rest of this race season so he’ll be in one piece for next season.