Alex Rins frustrated by third place in Jerez

Having worked hard on used tyres during practice, Alex Rins was unable to put it together on race day in Jerez.

From Friday onwards in Jerez, Alex Rins never really seemed to be on the pace of the leading riders in the Moto2™ World Championship. He began to increase his pace during Qualifying to secure seventh on the grid, hoping his work with used tyres would pay off at the end of the race.

The man to catch all weekend had been Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Rins did well to get behind him at the start of the race. For the first few laps Rins was able to maintain the pace and escape from Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) in fourth place.

Eventually Rins would drop off the back of the leading two and settle into his rhythm for third place. Having failed to score in the race in 2015, Rins was happy with the performance.

With many riders crashing in the tricky conditions, Rins’ third was a safe result as even one DNF can ruin a championship campaign. Rins remains in championship contention with 62 points, only ten points behind Lowes.

Round five in Le Mans will be a big challenge for the young Spaniard who failed to score points there in 2015, ending a run of three straight podium finishes achieved in the Moto3™ class.

Alex Rins:

“We have had a difficult weekend. I have not felt comfortable with the bike and on track everything was very close and many riders were fast. We suffered more than we expected. I gout a good start and put myself behind Folger. I knew that both Jonas and Sam had a very strong pace and I decided to hook on with them. At mid-race distance they increased their speed and I couldn’t do anything else. A podium is a good result at a circuit where last year I did not get points.”

Source: motogp.com