Alex Rins: “If I shave my head she’ll change the locks”

Even after securing his first MotoGP win with Honda at only the third race together, Alex Rins knows shaving his head in celebration would not go down favourably.

Robert Jones

19 Apr 2023

The LCR Honda rider was sensational at the American MotoGP as he forced Sprint winner Francesco Bagnaia into a shocking mistake at turn two.

Leading every lap, as was the case during the Sprint before going down, Bagnaia had momentarily eked out a bigger lead compared to the opening few laps, but when tipping into the right-hander, Bagnaia lost the front-end of his Ducati.

Rins then inherited the lead which he never gave up after controlling the gap to Fabio Quartararo first, and then Luca Marini once the Ducati rider found a way through on the 2021 world champion.

Post race, Rins was seen shaving the head of two team members after making a bet that he would make it into Q2.

However, this was far more of an achievement than making it into Q2 as he secured second in qualifying, second in the Sprint and an unlikely win at just the third time of asking since swapping Suzuki for Honda.

With that said, it’s not a surprise that Rins showed that Honda can still win in MotoGP given the form he ended 2022 with, and his ability to out-race others when in contention for a podium or victory.

But when asked if such results at COTA called for an even bigger celebration, one that maybe involved shaving his own head, Rins has a very good excuse as to why he would not.

"My fiancée, when I woke up this morning, I had a message saying if I shave my head, she’ll change the locks.

"We have our wedding in a couple of months and it’s a day to remember so better not!"

Rins wins sixth MotoGP race under unusual pressure

Not under the pressures of fighting for a world title or winning a first MotoGP race, Rins instead won at COTA with an LCR Honda team record weighing on his shoulders.

The Lucio Cecchinello-owned team was sitting on 99 podiums prior to the race, which has now been made a century courtesy of Rins’ win.

Rins added: "It was amazing, when I was in the LCR workshop this winter, Lucio put a video on in the museum and said we have 99 podiums in our team, and I said, ‘thanks for the pressure!’

"We did it. I’m so happy for the win, and also happy about the weekend, a really good weekend."