Alex Rins: “I haven't forgotten how to ride a motorbike!” - Exclusive

Alex Rins admits there is no hiding from the reality of a “tough, difficult” 2025 MotoGP season, despite doubling his points tally from the previous year.

The former Suzuki and Honda race winner slipped one position in the world championship standings to just 19th, while his best grand prix finish on the Inline Yamaha M1 improved only marginally from eighth to seventh.

“For sure, it was a tough, difficult year, because the bike was not performing super well,” Rins told Crash.net. “Then, as a rider, when you do not achieve a good result, it is harder, and the season feels longer. That is normal.

“But I am happy because my group of people is super good and even in the toughest moments, they were able to support me to the maximum.”

"I haven't forgotten how to ride a motorbike!”

On paper, seventh in Australia was Rins’ top finish of the season. However, his most competitive weekend came a week earlier in Mandalika. 

Rins claimed fourth in FP1, then repeated that feat for a season-best qualifying, before tyre wear issues left him tenth in the grand prix.

“When you have the right feeling with the bike, you can give your 100%. And in Mandalika, I had it,” Rins reflected. 

“I had a good setting, the bike was performing not bad for that track - and I haven't forgotten how to ride a motorbike!”

But, Indonesia aside, qualifying proved a major weakness. Rins' next best grid position was ninth, and he was left to start 15th or lower in half of the 22 rounds, heavily impacting his race chances.

While team-mate Fabio Quartararo finished third in the BMW Best Qualifier Award with five pole positions, Rins was ranked seventeenth for qualifying form.

“Oliveira, Miller and I are all close on one flying lap. Fabio is the only one who could do a pole, let's say,” Rins said. 

“He has a lot of experience with this bike. It fits really well with him. It is his seventh year with Yamaha. I don’t want to say we cannot do it, but for him it definitely came more naturally.”

While the move to a new V4 is aimed at improving rear grip, Rins was clear about the main strength of the outgoing Inline4 machine.

“The bike performs really well on brakes. It is really stable and quite nice,” he said. “Braking is a really strong point. But we did not have a lot of grip with the rear, so it was all with the front.”

Rins experimented with his riding style to try and extract more performance, with little success.

“I tried waiting a little bit before entering the corner, but it did not work so well. So I mixed it a little bit with my natural riding style, depending on the situation,” he explained.

Looking ahead to the V4 project in 2026, Rins’ goal is to regain “the feeling, the pace, to fight for victory.

“And always the target is to win a world championship.”

With Yamaha retiring its Inline engine, Rins’ Suzuki farewell victory at Valencia 2022 will go down in history as the last MotoGP win for an Inline machine. At least for the foreseeable future.