Álex Rins continue to make important strides towards adapting to his new bike, the Yamaha M1, and finished the day with the 11th fastest time. For the rider, almost everything he tested worked well, with him stating that aerodynamics are essential nowadays.
Rins thus began his analysis of the day: ‘We had many things to test during the Shakedown, today and for the next two days. Today was something strange because we didn’t have enough tires, we needed to save some for tomorrow. It was an interesting test, we found some technical paths that I believe will help us in the future’.
And the feedback seems to be positive for most of what he tested:
– We only rode with the new 2024 engine, it didn’t make sense to test the 2023 one because I never rode with them with this year’s engine and I started directly with two bikes with the latest engine. Then we tested different chassis, swingarms, fairings, and in general 75 to 80% of things work, work well, maybe even 90%, but we still have things to see that Cal [Crutchlow] has already tested. We are on the right track.
Regarding whether it was easy for him to go back to an inline engine, the Spaniard said: ‘It was the same. At the moment, the most important thing on a MotoGP bike is aerodynamics, with good aerodynamics you can corner well and for me, honestly, at this moment it doesn’t matter if you have an inline engine or a V4. I didn’t feel much difference’.
Regarding his position on the bike, #42 said: ‘I felt very good. On the first day of the Shakedown we changed the handlebar position a bit but now I feel very good on the bike’
