Rins: “The key was the start”

P4 and a best result since Assen for the Spaniard at Misano

The Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini saw Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins secure his best finish since his hard earned second place at Assen earlier this season, with the Spaniard putting a lot of it down to his good start:

“Yes for sure I’m very very happy, once more the key was the start, we did a great start from the beginning,” explained Rins, who launched from P10 to get himself into P6 on the opening lap. “I was trying to forget everything but it was a little bit difficult to be consistent on the first part because I started to feel the front locking and moving from the beginning. But anyway, I’m happy with this fourth position, always doing my race pace alone and we need to continue this work.”

2018 has been a fairly inconsistent season from the Suzuki rider with five DNFs so far. However, the San Marino GP was another sign that Rins has top five potential – at least – when he and the GSX-RR are on song, just like they were in Argentina and Assen when he was able to stand on the rostrum.

But from the outset, the Spaniard was suffering with his tyres, so was he happy with his choice? “Yes for sure, all weekend I was very slow with the medium one. We had a lot of spinning when the tyre was new, so I was happy with the soft.”

A home round at MotorLand Aragon now awaits, a circuit Rins and the team tested at ahead of Misano. Is another top five on the cards? Time will tell, but the 22-year-old is expecting a tough weekend in Alcañiz: “For sure it will be difficult because everybody goes fast there, I don’t know how they do but everybody does. We arrive from there because we did two days testing and nothing more, we need to forget all the pressure put in one man and try to be focused and fast.”

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