One year and a day later, Alex Rins’ second victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas remains one of the most unexpected wins in recent MotoGP history. While there have been other surprising victories, such as Jack Miller at Assen in 2016, Rins’ triumph at COTA in 2023 solidified his reputation as a talented rider who excels at the Austin track. Both of his premier-class wins at COTA required some outside assistance, with the leader crashing out. However, last year’s Honda didn’t belong in second place, especially considering it was only Rins’ third grand prix start on the bike. Throughout the season, Rins led a total of 15 laps, 13 of which were at COTA.
With his past success at COTA and a new Yamaha bike at his disposal, there was anticipation for another impressive performance from Rins. However, that was not the case. Despite his affinity for the track, Rins, even more so than his Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo, was not in a position to compete for anything more than moral victories. MotoGP riders, like LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, acknowledge Rins’ skills at COTA but recognize that he couldn’t match their speed. Rins may not have been as fast as he was on the 2023 Honda, but he was still ahead of the struggling 2024 Hondas.
This year, both Honda and Yamaha seem weaker than before, with the so-called ‘Japanese cup’ becoming a more realistic target for both brands. Rins, who has faced challenges adapting to the Yamaha M1, didn’t feel particularly competitive at the start of the weekend. The heavy feeling of the M1 affected his performance through the quick direction changes of the esses at COTA. Despite these difficulties, Rins showed some competitiveness in terms of lap times compared to Quartararo. However, Quartararo still had the edge in race pace, and Rins acknowledged that he needed to adjust his riding.
Rins’ race at COTA didn’t go as planned. He found himself in last place on the opening lap due to a series of incidents involving other riders. Although he managed to recover and catch up to Quartararo, he couldn’t keep up with the Frenchman’s pace. In the main race, Rins briefly climbed to seventh place on the first lap but was quickly overtaken by multiple riders. Unfortunately, he crashed on the 11th lap. Rins explained that the crash was partly due to the ongoing process of finding the right setup with Yamaha. Currently, the team and rider combination is not in a position to fight for top positions.
Perhaps Rins’ adaptation to the Yamaha would have been smoother if they had a proper test session after the Portimao GP. However, due to weather conditions, Rins and Quartararo were only able to complete a few laps. Despite this setback, Yamaha is not limited by test days under the concession system, so they will have opportunities to make up for lost testing time. COTA demonstrated that Rins has the potential to succeed with Yamaha, and although he may not have had the ideal start to the season, he is still a valuable asset for the team.