Rins: “I hope to fight for the podium in Jerez”

MADRID, 29 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Spanish rider Álex Rins (Suzuki) has assured that he hopes to “fight for the podium” this weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he arrives second overall tied on points with the leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), and has explained that they lack “a little” to be able to choose to always get on the drawer.

“I hope for a good weekend, good weather, something that we did not have much in Portimao; I hope to feel the warmth of the fans and, at the level of results, to be there and fight for the podium,” he said in statements to his main sponsor, Galician Star 0.0. “My goal this season is to go race by race, see, analyze what we can do and what we can opt for each weekend,” he added.

Regarding the chances of a podium, the Catalan rider assured that they are now much greater than in previous seasons. “I wish we could always be on the podium. I think we are a bit lacking. In the end, now it is not like before, that there were two or three favorites and the worst result they could do was fourth. Now we are all going very fast and it is difficult to be constant. If you ask me who can win here in Jerez, I don’t know what to say because of the equality that exists”, he declared.

In addition, he stressed that more than being co-leader of the championship, he is happy to “return to Spain” and for the fact that “the Grand Prix is ​​played with people in the stands.” “Due to the circumstances of COVID, in the last two years we have run as if they were pre-season training, with the circuit empty,” he said.

On the other hand, he was very happy for the return to the Jerez International Circuit. “We were touring the circuit by bike and we could already feel the warmth of the fans, the noise of the motorcycles, the caravans, the bonfires. The truth is that I am happy that people can come to the circuit again, that they encourage us. In the end, seeing a full Grand Prix makes me happy, the fact of going through Nieto and Peluqui and that the whole pelouse is full, people in the paddock”, he pointed out.

In other matters, Rins confessed that the circuits he likes the most are “Silverstone and Austin”, but also “Portimao and Jerez”. “I’m not the typical rider who has a circuit or several circuits where I say ‘I don’t want to come here’. Those from Spain really like going for the people, because they are full and you feel the heat, here in Jerez nice to run; also in Portimao and Phillip Island”, he explained.

He also revealed that in the Grand Prix “from outside” he suffers more with food. “In the extra-European circuits, when we go and have to do an event, it is where you usually eat a little worse in the sense that you don’t have Mediterranean cuisine. In the end there is catering, a little rice, a little pasta but, the one where you try the chicken with its spices or stuff, it’s more complicated,” he joked.

In Malaysia, however, it is where it has the worst time due to the weather. “It’s very hot and there’s a lot of humidity. In Mandalika, in Indonesia or in Thailand, we haven’t been there for two years and it will also be hard because of the heat…”, he stressed, ending by saying that he focuses “on the competition” and that he is not thinking about renewing with the team. “In the end, the manager is the person who manages the contracts; that’s what he’s there for,” he concluded.