Alex Rins says the risks justified the reward after he pushed to the limit in his pursuit of a coveted MotoGP victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas.
The LCR Honda rider emerged on top in the main race at Round 3 of the championship at the Circuit of the Americas after Lenovo Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the lead on lap eight.
Bagnaia was coming under pressure from Rins when he slid off at Turn 2, leaving the Spaniard with clear track ahead of him as he went on to claim his fourth race win in America and a first MotoGP victory for LCR Honda since Cal Crutchlow triumphed in Argentina in 2018.
A delighted Rins – second behind Bagnaia in Saturday’s Sprint race – said he was riding on the limit through the technical sectors of the track to hang on to the rear of Bagnaia’s factory Ducati.
“I’m very happy because we have a victory [in Texas] with Moto3, Moto2, Suzuki (MotoGP) and then Honda, so this is impressive and I’m so happy,” Rins said.
“I’m so proud of the team, of my personal team also and also all the [fans] who come here to celebrate.
“It’s amazing, honestly amazing. We did a great race and my team deserved this. We were quite good, especially in the beginning.
“I’m super-proud and we were super-fast in the beginning, we were riding so, so fast. I was trying to follow Pecco, he was faster than me in the third sector, fourth sector, but I was risking a lot on the first and second sectors to catch him and bridge the gap,” he added.
“But anyway, let’s look forward and this is a good result for all the team. They were waiting for it and I think it’s the 100th podium for LCR, so they deserve.”
Rins felt he would have to ride at a slower pace in the 20-lap race after destroying his tyres in the Sprint encounter, but his plan was soon thrown out the window.
“What I was thinking today from yesterday, [was that] I would try to ride more slow because yesterday the tyres were destroyed with that pace that we did yesterday,” he explained.
“But today we did the same pace, so I’m quite impressed because the [management] of the throttle and tyres was quite nice.
“I was trying to push a lot with Pecco, I was trailing a lot in Sector 2, Sector 3, but then in the chicanes I was pushing so much to catch him.”
Rins – competing in only his third race weekend of the season with LCR Honda after joining Lucio Cecchinello’s satellite team from Suzuki – says he has continued the same approach to his racing that he had with his former team.
“When I arrived to LCR, I kept working as I was working in the last years with my old team,” he said.
“So maybe I bring some experience from the past with another bike – the way it worked – I don’t know, but we did it!”
The 27-year-old has climbed six places in the standings into third after an exceptional weekend in Texas, 17 points behind VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi and only six behind Bagnaia in second.
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