Álex Rins Navarro (born 8 December 1995) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team in the MotoGP class. He was the 2011 CEV Buckler 125 Junior GP Champion, and made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debut in the Moto3 World Championship during the season. Rins is set to leave Yamaha at the season.

Career

Moto3 World Championship (2012–2014) Born in Barcelona, Rins began his career in Moto3 with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team. In his second meeting, Rins took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. He took his first podium in France, with third place. He scored no further podiums, but was very consistent throughout the remainder of the season, regularly finishing in the top ten. He finished fifth in the final standings and became the rookie of the year.

Rins continued racing for Estrella Galicia 0,0 alongside Álex Márquez in 2013, which would prove to be his breakthrough year. Maverick Viñales, Luis Salom and Rins dominated the season, with Rins scoring six wins, 14 podiums and eight poles, and was in the running for the title throughout the season, finishing second to Viñales by a margin of 12 points.

Rins continued to race for Estrella Galicia 0,0 in 2014. The 2014 season saw a dip in Rins' performance with two wins, eight podiums and four poles which was lesser than his previous years' performance. Ultimately, Rins finished the season in third place in the riders' championship.

Moto2 World Championship (2015–2016) Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (2015–2016) Rins moved to Moto2 for 2015 with the Paginas Amarillas HP 40 team riding a Kalex. He sported the racing number 40, for the team's sponsorship purposes. In a season dominated by Johann Zarco, Rins achieved two wins and ten podiums, ultimately finishing second in the final standings and winning the rookie of the year.

Rins stayed with the Paginas Amarillas HP 40 team for 2016. The season began well for Rins, achieving wins in Austin and Le Mans and seven podiums. However, a late season slump coupled with a surge in performance from Thomas Lüthi resulted in Rins finishing the season in third place.

MotoGP World Championship (2017–2026) Team Suzuki Ecstar (2017–2022) Rins moved up to the MotoGP class for the 2017 season with Team Suzuki Ecstar alongside his new teammate, Andrea Iannone, and changed his number back from 40 to 42. The first half of his season was hampered when he broke his wrist during practice at Texas in April, and didn't return to the bike until two months later at Assen. However, his fortunes took an upturn with a season-best fifth place in the wet in Japan, bettered with a fourth-place finish at the final round in Valencia.

An improved Suzuki machine coupled with a lack of injuries allowed Rins to be a consistent podium contender in 2018. Despite a disappointing start to the season with five retirements in nine races, Rins amassed five podiums (including second place in both of the final two rounds) and a total of 169 points, finishing the season in fifth place of the rider's championship and 36 points ahead of his teammate Iannone.

On 17 May 2018, ahead of the French GP, Rins was confirmed to have signed a two-year extension with Suzuki, guaranteeing his factory rider position with the Hamamatsu manufacturer through 2020.

For the 2019 season, Rins was paired with MotoGP rookie and 2017 Moto3 champion Joan Mir. After finishing just outside of the podium in both the Qatar and Argentine round, Rins won the 2019 Grand Prix of the Americas whilst dueling with Valentino Rossi after the retirement of Marc Márquez. It was his first win in the MotoGP class, and a second victory followed at Silverstone, as Rins won by only 0.013 seconds following an intense battle with Marc Márquez. These strong performances meant Rins finished the season with 205 points and fourth in the riders' championship.

LCR Honda Castrol (2023) On 19 July 2022, Rins signed a two-year deal with LCR Honda starting in 2023.

Rins won the Grand Prix of the Americas, becoming the first rider other than Marc Márquez to win for Honda since Cal Crutchlow in the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix. However, Rins suffered a heavy crash at the Italian Grand Prix that kept him out for most of the 2023 season.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (2024–2026) On August 3, 2023, Rins announced he will be leaving Honda and the LCR Team to join the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP for the 2024 MotoGP season, replacing the seat made vacant by Franco Morbidelli.

Rins would be retained by Yamaha for the 2025 and 2026 season.

Rins is set to depart Yamaha at the end of the 2026 season.

Retirement from motorcycle racing Ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix, Rins announced his retirement from MotoGP and two-wheeled racing despite offers to join the Superbike World Championship, instead focusing on a "really interesting project" that is set to be revealed at a later date.

Career statistics CEV Buckler 125GP Championship Races by year (key) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos Pts 2010 CAT ALB1 JER1 ARA ALB2 VAL JER2 3rd 120 2011 JER1 ARA CAT ALB1 ALB2 VAL JER2 1st 102

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Moto3 Suter Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0 17 0 1 1 1 141 5th Moto3 KTM Estrella Galicia 0,0 17 6 14 8 1 311 2nd Moto3 Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0 18 2 8 4 3 237 3rd Moto2 Kalex Paginas Amarillas HP 40 17 2 10 3 4 234 2nd Moto2 Kalex Paginas Amarillas HP 40 18 2 7 1 3 214 3rd MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 12 0 0 0 0 59 16th MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 18 0 5 0 1 169 5th MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 19 2 3 0 1 205 4th MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 13 1 4 0 2 139 3rd MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 17 0 1 0 1 99 13th MotoGP Suzuki Team Suzuki Ecstar 19 2 4 0 1 173 7th MotoGP Honda LCR Honda Castrol 7 1 1 0 1 54 19th MotoGP Yamaha Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team 17 0 0 0 0 31 18th MotoGP Yamaha Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 22 0 0 0 0 68 19th MotoGP Yamaha Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 0 0 0 0 0 Total 231 18 58 17 19 2134

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto3 2012–2014 2012 Qatar 2012 France 2013 Americas 52 8 23 13 5 689 0 Moto2 2015–2016 2015 Qatar 2015 Americas 2015 Indianapolis 35 4 17 4 7 448 0 MotoGP 2017–present 2017 Qatar 2018 Argentina 2019 Americas 144 6 18 0 7 997 0 Total 2012–present 231 18 58 17 19 2134 0

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pos Pts Moto3 Suter Honda QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL 5th 141 Moto3 KTM QAT AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL 2nd 311 Moto3 Honda QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 3rd 237 Moto2 Kalex QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 2nd 234 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 3rd 214 MotoGP Suzuki QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 16th 59 MotoGP Suzuki QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 5th 169 MotoGP Suzuki QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 4th 205 MotoGP Suzuki SPA ANC CZE AUT STY RSM EMI CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL POR 3rd 139 MotoGP Suzuki QAT DOH POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED STY AUT GBR ARA RSM AME EMI ALR VAL 13th 99 MotoGP Suzuki QAT INA ARG AME POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED GBR AUT RSM ARA JPN THA AUS MAL VAL 7th 173 MotoGP Honda POR ARG AME SPA FRA ITA GER NED GBR AUT CAT RSM IND JPN INA AUS THA MAL QAT VAL 19th 54 MotoGP Yamaha QAT POR AME SPA FRA CAT ITA NED GER GBR AUT ARA RSM EMI INA JPN AUS THA MAL SLD 18th 31 MotoGP Yamaha THA ARG AME QAT SPA FRA GBR ARA ITA NED GER CZE AUT HUN CAT RSM JPN INA AUS MAL POR VAL 19th 68 MotoGP YamahaTHABRAUSASPAFRACATITAHUNCZENEDGERGBRARARSMAUTJPN INA AUS MAL POR VAL 19th* 19*

References

External links