Alex Rins will travel to Valencia to try to race the last grand prix of the 2023 MotoGP season, the LCR Honda team announced in an official statement. Almost six months after the right leg injury suffered at Mugello, the Spaniard will try to race this weekend’s Valencia GP. The Valencia race will also be his last on the Honda with Lucio Cecchinello’s team.
Rins, who is the only driver who has so far managed to score a victory for the Japanese brand in the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin this year, has missed 12 of the 13 events on the calendar since his injury at the Italian Grand Prix . He raced in Indonesia, where he achieved ninth position.
Although he tried to return to the Japanese Grand Prix, from the first free practice he understood that he would not be able to continue. After her top 10 in Mandalika, the pain was too bad and a new operation was necessary.
At the end of last week, tests were scheduled to understand whether he could return to the Valencia GP, which this weekend puts an end to the 2023 season. This return will have a symbolic and emotional meaning, but the most important thing for Rins is to be able to have the first made contact with Yamaha, which he will ride in the pre-season tests which will take place on Tuesday in Valencia.
Let’s remember that Rins fractured his tibia and fibula at Mugello, an injury that required two operations immediately after the accident and a long convalescence, during which one part of his foot hurt a lot, while another part had no sensation. He managed to get back on a big bike in September.
Two weeks after attempting to return to Motegi, Rins managed to secure an excellent ninth place in Mandalika before returning to be absent from the paddock starting on Saturday at Phillip Island. He had to undergo a new operation to resolve a hernia and compartment syndrome, which forced him to miss the races in Thailand, Malaysia and Qatar, the latter held last week.
Despite his return to the track in Valencia, the MotoGP starting grid will continue to be incomplete, as will all the other 20 races of the season. Miguel Oliveira injured his shoulder last weekend in Lusail and will be forced to miss the last round to recover. Aleix Espargaro also suffered a leg injury and, after retiring on Sunday, declared that the pain continues to be very strong, even if he will try to race in Valencia.
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