Rins: My maximum kept resulting in crashes, goal was to be more consistent

The 2021 MotoGP season was Alex Rins’ worst since his rookie campaign in 2017, one where riding to the limit of his Suzuki GSX-RR machine culminated in several crashes.

Rins suffered an alarming seven crashes in race situations which was one of the highest of any rider. That also included four consecutive rounds (Portimao, Jerez, Le Mans and Mugello).

The first of those came whilst battling 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo for the win in Portimao, while in Mugello, Rins crashed out at the final corner after a podium looked possible. 

But crashes and inconsistencies aside, Rins did show pace at times, the type of pace that took him to top five championship results the previous three seasons. 

When reflecting on his season, the Spaniard of course stated consistency being something he wished was better, however, 2021 gave him many learning lessons which he aims to take forward into 2022. 

"It’s quite strange to look back at this year, because in many ways it has gone quickly, but it has also been a very long and tricky season," added Rins.  

"There are some things that I would like to forget, like the crashes and especially the string of four DNFs in a row that I had. 

"It was hard for me because I was trying at my maximum in every race and it just kept resulting in crashes. 

"But I don’t see this as a completely bad thing, because in reality I learned a lot from those struggles, I had to deal with those disappointments and that pressure, and so I can say that at least I learned from the bad moments. 

"As a team we all worked together, and I felt the support of my crew. My goal was to be more consistent, and we all collaborated to figure out how to make that happen. Next season we want to pull everything we learned together and make it pay."