Álex Rins overcame recent challenges with an eighth-place finish at the MotoGP Malaysian GP, marking his first top-ten finish and best result so far since joining Monster Energy Yamaha this year.
The Spanish rider acknowledged it was an improvement: ‘It was good; fantastic is Pecco [Bagnaia] or [Jorge] Martín. But, yeah, it was better. We took a step forward within our possibilities. It was my best result with Yamaha so far’.
Then, Rins commented: ‘Honestly, since Saturday I’ve been feeling quite good on the bike. Unluckly, there was this red flag. I made an unbelievable start, I was there fighting with Marc [Márquez]. But, anyway, I gave my maximum, I tried to control the tyres as much as possible’.
Despite the result, the #42 admitted there’s still much to improve and understand: ‘We still need to improve, we need to understand why the drop is still quite high. But honestly, we are working in a good way. Let’s see in Montmeló in the final race. It’s a track with very low grip, it’s a track where we struggled a lot in May, so let’s try our best and let’s see if our bike improves a bit’.
When asked what contributed to the improved performance, Rins replied: ‘For me, it’s the electronics. The bike works a bit better here. I have more control, the engine brake is better’.