Alex Rins "pain free" but full recovery "9-10 months"
But the Spaniard, switching to Monster Yamaha for 2024, has been told it could take until next March or April for his leg fractures to fully heal.
Rins suffered the injuries at Mugello in June, but then required further surgery due to ongoing pain upon his return in the recent flyaway rounds.
"During my last GP in Australia, we did an x-ray in Melbourne on Saturday morning because I was feeling a lot of muscular pain in my leg,” Rins said.
“It looked like I had a hernia so we flew directly to Madrid to make a surgery to improve this pain. They operated in the morning, and at night I left the hospital.
“The doctors did a fantastic job. I walked home as the pain improved immediately!
“This last month I’ve been working as hard as possible at home to be here in Valencia.
“It’s a shame it is the last race because now I’m feeling more or less better than before. Anyway, we have this weekend to enjoy and to ride, and to say goodbye to LCR.
“It is an amazing team, we had a very difficult season with injury, but we did a great result in Austin to get the victory."
Rins, who won last year’s Valencia finale for Suzuki, recently tested the condition of his right leg during a track day in Barcelona.
"I rode the production bike in Montmelo. It was quite nice. Montmelo has the right then left and then the long right corner and I had zero pain,” he said. “We need to remember it is a production bike and not a MotoGP bike, the power and brakes are not the same, but it was a great test."
Nonetheless, it could take until the 2024 season opener in Qatar on March 10 for his leg to fully recover.
“It was not a clean fracture. So to be at 100%, they said I need nine to ten months to recover everything but now we are in good shape,” Rins explained.
“The pain is very low during the day. I am walking perfectly. I think the next step is to jump on the bike, we have more muscle on the leg than before, so I think it is going to be ok."
Next Tuesday’s test will see Rins ride his third different MotoGP bike in just over a year.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s a big challenge, because you change everything, your team, your group, your crew chief, but I did it last year [also].”
