Alex Rins faces a lot of work at Yamaha – Some things work, some things don’t – In principle, he is thinking about extending his contract
Two 13th places have so far been Alex Rins’ best individual results in his first four MotoGP weekends on the Yamaha M1. He has six points to his name, while team-mate Fabio Quartararo has collected 25 points.
Rins is still working on getting to know the M1 and finding a basic set-up for himself. At the same time, development parts are being tested. The Spaniard with experience from Suzuki and Honda therefore has to work on several fronts at the same time.
He has signed a contract with Yamaha for the 2024 season. Will there be talks about the future soon? “Of course I’m thinking about it, that’s true,” admits Rins. “But right now I have to focus on the bike and work hard to find a good base.”
“That’s why I told my manager to hold talks, but I’ll at least stay in the background during the race weekends.” The Spaniard is a piece of the puzzle in Yamaha’s recovery process.
Is a contract extension therefore obvious for both sides? “I want to continue here because the team works very hard and very well,” said Rins, praising Yamaha. “They are already working with next year in mind to improve the bike.”
Yamaha’s efforts were evident at the Monday test after the Jerez weekend. There were some new developments. A completely new aerodynamics was noticeable, but also a new chassis
According to Rins, “half” of the developments worked. “The aerodynamics worked quite well. I am satisfied with the tests in this area, we have done a lot of comparisons.”
“The chassis didn’t work so well. We can do a lot more with the chassis,” says the 28-year-old. “We have made small progress, but I had hoped for a bigger step with the aerodynamics. We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“I expected there to be a bigger effect with this fairing. But maybe it was my mistake because I had higher expectations for the handling. It was a little bit better, but not much.”
In the week following the French Grand Prix, Quartararo and Rins will have two private test days in Mugello. There, the developments will be checked again on a different track characteristic