Alex Rins admits he was 'scared' after Suzuki's exit decision and couldn't see himself not securing a factory bike for 2023 MotoGP season.
The three-time MotoGP race winner was unexpectedly thrown onto the 2023 rider market when Suzuki informed its team that it would be ending its MotoGP project after the 2022 season back in May.
Rins engaged in discussions with several teams, including KTM, Gresini Ducati and LCR – ultimately signing a two-year deal directly with Honda to join the latter. In an exclusive interview on Motorsport.com's Tank Slappers Podcast, Rins admits he feared for his future upon first hearing the news – but was also scared of the fact that he could be forced to take an uncompetitive bike to continue his career.“And you know I was a bit scared when Suzuki announced its retirement because I’m not anymore a rookie rider and I was trying to find a factory bike, that luckily we got.“It’s a pleasure to have the contract with an official manufacturer, with Honda.
“For sure, if I was signing with Lucio [Cecchinello], with not an official bike, [that] was ok, [if] it was the only way I would take it.“Let me explain, I think I have a lot of experience, a lot of capacity to improve a bike. So, f**k, I couldn’t see me with not an official bike. It’s difficult to explain.
“We had the option to go to Ducati, we had more options also, but at Ducati they couldn’t secure me an official bike.“But in the end it was Honda and I’m super-happy. I was with them in 2014 [in Moto3], more or less it’s the same people leading the project – the Moto3 project and this one.
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