Yamaha didn't expect a miracle to start the 2024 MotoGP season. This was experienced by Fabio Quartararo, who left the Lusail circuit with just five points, achieved on Sunday. The new arrival at the Iwata factory, Alex Rins, was aware that the task would be difficult, but he nevertheless experienced an even more difficult weekend than his teammate, and even more difficult than he had expected.
The Catalan driver failed to score points in either of the first two races of the season: 17th in Saturday's Sprint, while in Sunday's long race he managed to improve by one position, moving to 16th place, which left him poised for the last point, which went to Miguel Oliveira. After the action in Qatar, Rins confirmed that he suffered more on Sunday than on Saturday, when he had more than one problem.
“It was a bit tougher than I expected, because I couldn't run at my pace,” the Barcelona driver confirmed to the media, including Motorsport.com, after Saturday's Sprint. “I started quite well, then I passed some opponents, but as soon as I was left alone, Raul Fernandez and Oliveira got a little closer.”
“I tried to drive at my own pace and on the last lap I made a small mistake and Joan Mir overtook me. I tried to manage the rear tire as much as possible. In the last five laps I suffered a lot,” Rins continued. “The tire degradation was a limit in the last four laps, but before that I wasn't driving that badly. I would say it wasn't a big problem, but for the long race, with double the laps, it will definitely be a problem.”
His worst fears have come true. After the main race, the number 42 explained that he had “suffered a lot”, to the point that in the last third of the race his M1 was out of control due to wear on the Michelin tyres, more precisely the medium compounds.
“Honestly, we suffered a lot in this race. We tried to do the best we could, and I was in an upward curve. I improved lap after lap, I felt better, until I was back in the top 11 or 12, behind Quartararo and Mir But with six laps to go I could no longer control the bike”, continued Rins, describing how he collapsed as the laps went by.
“The front tire was destroyed on the right side and I started losing a lot of seconds because I couldn't get a steering angle in the right-hand corners. But this race was good for the future and I'm looking forward to the next one “he continued, trying to be optimistic.
Finally, the Spaniard spoke about the comparisons he was able to make with rival bikes: “I did a few laps behind the Aprilia and behind the Honda. I was able to see where they are stronger than us, or our weak points. Especially in the fast corners , like 5, 7 and 9. There I cover more meters than them and it's very difficult to change direction. When that's the case, you ask more of the tyre”, concluded Rins.
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