Finally! Alex Rins won another MotoGP race at Phillip Island last weekend and gives Suzuki – or rather: his team – a dignified farewell. Rins has regularly shown in recent years that he is one of the best pilots in the world, but too often had to deal with the falling sickness at the wrong times. Time to take a look back at the career of the rider with the widest grin.
Barcelona-born Rins (26) started his Moto3 GP career in 2012, where he landed a seat with the Estrella Galicia 0.0 team. In his second race, Rins already took pole and ended the year as Rookie of the Year. In 2013, the real breakthrough followed, on the side of Álex Márquez. Maverick Vinales, the late Luis Salom and Rins dominated the season; with Rins scoring six wins, fourteen podiums and eight poles. He was in the running for the title all season, eventually finishing second, twelve points behind world champion Viñales.
After finishing third in the 2014 final standings, Rins moved to Moto2 for 2015 with the Pages Amarillas HP 40 team. In a season dominated by Johann Zarco, Rins took two wins and ten podiums. He had to settle for second place, but again became Rookie of the Year. 2016 was good for a third place in the championship and promotion to MotoGP with the Team Suzuki Ecstar. Unfortunately, Rins injured his wrist early in the season in 2017, but he still finished strong with a fifth place in wet Japan and fourth in the final race in Valencia.
In 2018, both Rins and the Suzuki were in better shape and collected five podium finishes, good for fifth place in the championship. For the 2019 season, Rins was paired with MotoGP rookie and 2017 Moto3 champion Joan Mir. In the Grand Prix of the Americas, Rins takes his first MotoGP victory that year. He was on the podium twice more and finished in fourth place in the championship.
In corona year 2020, Rins had to watch as teammate Mir took the title, he himself had to settle for third place in the final standings. 2021 was a year to soon forget for Rins, crashes at crucial moments cost him dearly.
We (and probably Rins too) are still not quite over Suzuki’s decision to call it quits after this year. Hopefully the LCR team’s factory Honda, where he signed a two-year deal, will soon be a top bike again and we often get to see Rins’ typical old school style.
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