Three days after demanding more attention from Honda regarding the development of its 2023 bike, Alex Rins brought out his best in Austin to take a resounding victory that will undoubtedly lead the Japanese marque to give him more responsibility.
No matter how well the Spaniard had done in the past at the Circuit of the Americas, where he had won in all three categories that make up the world championship, absolutely no one would have predicted that Rins would be able to put together the best weekend of this season for Honda.
His slot on the first row of the grid, achieved on Saturday morning, was followed by second place in the sprint race and he finished the job on Sunday with a determined victory. Until then, no rider other than Marc Marquez had been able to climb onto the top step of the podium for Honda since Cal Crutchlow did so at the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix. The feat allowed the LCR team to get its 100th podium in the best way imaginable.
Numbers aside, Rins’ performance was exuberant enough to push Francesco Bagnaia to the edge, forcing the reigning champion to make a mistake that ended with him on the ground, clearing the way for the Honda.
Such a performance never goes unnoticed for a manufacturer, and all the more so when it is going through a period as turbulent as the one Honda is experiencing. Its last win came courtesy of Marquez at Misano in 2021, another race outcome coincidentally preceded by a crash from Bagnaia. The number of absentees due to injury and Marquez’s convalescence, combined with the apparent disorientation of the technical division at HRC, led to a sense of anxiety settling in at the official Repsol-backed team, although that uneasiness affected the satellite squad too.
In fact, last Thursday, Rins wanted to vindicate himself by declaring that he felt “untapped” by Honda, which, in his view, has to date not used him as much as it should. What happened in Texas will not only have a soothing and revitalising effect on the Japanese company, but it will also reposition Rins and amplify his voice.
Rins felt Honda wasn’t using him enough to help on the 2023 bike development
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Let no one forget that Alex’s contract is with HRC, and that HRC listens to all its riders,” Honda’s team manager Alberto Puig said in a telephone conversation with Autosport. “That said, when you win, and more so in the way he did this Sunday, it is obvious that he is listened to more.”
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