Alex Rins retires from motorcycling: the announcement at the Misano GP

Alex Rins announced his retirement from MotoGP and motorcycles on the eve of first practice at Misano: some statements and a recap of his career.

It doesn’t seem to be an absolute retirement (he hasn’t revealed his next plans), but we certainly won’t see Alex Rins in MotoGP or in any motorcycle World Championship. The Yamaha rider himself stated this during Thursday’s media session, before starting the Misano GP. “I’ve found something I like, I can’t say more for now” was Rins’ cryptic comment on his future plans, although rumors suggest the next chapter will be in cars. The Spanish rider looked around after being left without a seat in MotoGP and after turning down some options to move to the Superbike World Championship.

“I wasn’t able to win the title, but I had the opportunity to win races in all three categories,” Rins said. “I’d simply like to thank the people who helped me. And there are still several races to go. There was a chance to switch to another championship, such as Superbike. We had a good shot at going there, and that’s exactly the point: I asked myself many times whether to continue or not. But this new challenge motivates me a lot, it’s a long-term project and I’m happy about it.”

He debuted in Moto3 in 2012, winning Rookie of the Year, then showed impressive progress and soon became a title contender, narrowly missing out in 2013, when he finished 2nd overall after an intense battle with eventual champion Maverick Viñales and the late Luis Salom, who was 3rd. In 2015 he moved up to Moto2 and again had a stellar debut, earning Rookie of the Year there as well and, most notably, finishing 2nd in the standings, a result he repeated in the 2016 season. In 2017 he stepped up to MotoGP as part of the Suzuki project, undoubtedly his best period in the premier class: podiums, wins, and in 2020 in particular he was 3rd in the riders’ standings, and he was the one who delivered Suzuki’s last MotoGP victory before the brand’s exit from the World Championship.

He then joined Honda with LCR colors, taking a surprise win at the 2023 Grand Prix of the Americas, the lone joy in a season marred by serious injuries that sidelined him for most of the championship. It was his only year with the Golden Wing; from 2024 he has been a rider for the Yamaha factory team, but from that point his career took a sharp downturn, also due to machinery that wasn’t up to par, as we now know well. Not to the level of Quartararo, but Rins too had long expressed frustration and discontent over a situation with little to celebrate... Months ago he confirmed his departure from Yamaha, and now comes the official farewell to motorcycles for a new, yet-to-be-confirmed challenge. We await news on what he’ll do next; in the meantime, the goal is to finish his MotoGP career in the best possible way.

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