“Untapped” Rins feels Honda “relies little on me” to develop its MotoGP bike

After Suzuki elected to quit MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season, five-time race winner Rins signed a two-year deal directly with Honda to join its satellite operation at LCR.

With the start to 2023 proving woeful for Honda through injury woes for Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, and a general lack of competitiveness from the RC213V, Rins is the marque’s top rider in the standings in 12th on 13 points after two rounds.

In Argentina, Rins was allowed to try a chassis used by Marquez up to that point, but wasn’t allowed to back-to-back it with former Suzuki team-mate Mir’s.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Americas GP – an event Rins won in 2019 – the Spaniard feels underutilised by Honda at the moment.

“I feel that Honda relies little on me; I feel untapped,” he said.

“A small example is what happened in Argentina. After testing Marc’s chassis, which is different from the one Joan had been using, I asked them if they would also let me test Mir’s, to get an overall idea.

“I thought it was the right time to test. And they said no, even though they have spare units.

“I tried to talk to them, but they are very square. It’s not that they don’t listen to me, but that they don’t take advantage of me.”

Rins added that he has seen the potential in the 2023 RC213V since his first test on the bike in Valencia last November, but feels his hands are “tied” in terms of being able to try different things to improve the motorcycle.

“Without wanting to belittle the Honda riders who rode it, when I rode it in Valencia [in November], I already said that the bike had and has potential,” Rins said.

“It’s very competitive in braking, and it’s true that we need to adjust small things, such as grip in acceleration and lean.

“But it is Honda who decides what changes we make; what configuration we take.

“I see my hands tied a bit in the sense of trying different things or taking a different configuration than Marc or Joan.”