Alex Rins to Make MotoGP Return at Mandalika

Alex Rins missed the final leg of the European tour at last weekend’s second straight MotoGP race at Misano due to illness, but the factory Monster Energy Yamaha outfit is back to full strength to kick off a very busy few weeks.

The Asian tour kicks off this weekend with the Indonesian MotoGP, the first of five rounds in six weeks, before Valencia ends the campaign in the middle of November.

For Rins, the 2024 season, his first with Yamaha, has been somewhat of a disaster as the second event at Misano was the third Grand Prix he’s missed this season, but the Spaniard has confirmed his return ahead of the Mandalika race.

“I was very disappointed to miss out on racing last weekend in Misano, but I'm fully recovered now, and I'm ready to start riding again,” Rins said. “I always enjoy this part of the season. We have a lot of GPs in a row, and the fans in this part of the world are super passionate about MotoGP, which is super nice to see.”

Rins, who had hoped to compete in Misano as Yamaha introduced a new engine recently and he believes a margin of five-to-seven tenths can be found.

Rins added: “I was eating, biting my hands! Because compared to Misano one we received the ‘proper’ engine in the test, where the number of engines doesn’t count. They brought it back and I was a bit faster.”

“I would have liked to see my level compared to Fabio because he was in really good shape in Misano. Let’s see how it goes here, as I’m missing some laps on the bike.”

Yamaha’s troubles in 2024 have been well documented despite Rins flashing potential at different stages aboard the M1. But who are we kidding, all the riders aboard a Yamaha or Honda have been held back compared to their European rivals due to a lack of performance from their bikes, so it’s not exactly been a surprise that Rins has not achieved the results many would expect.

That said, having its full line-up should help Yamaha this weekend, as the Japanese company has without question improved as the season’s worn on, and for that they have to be commended because the gap to Ducati, Aprilia and even KTM has been sizable at times.

Speaking about the weekend and having Rins back, Team Director Massimo Meregalli said: “We have travelled straight from Misano to Mandalika. This week Alex will return to action, so we are back to full force.

“The Emilia-Romagna weekend was very positive for our team overall. The hard work is paying off, and we want to keep this positive trend going. After riding at Misano for an extensive length of time, we are interested to see how we fare at a completely different track.”

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