Suzuki has announced that Alex Rins has signed a new two-year deal to race with the team in MotoGP in the 2019-20 seasons.
Rins has showed plenty of promise since his arrival in MotoGP, despite a difficult, injury-affected start to his debut season in 2017. However, the young Spaniard has shown his talent and raw speed, taking a podium at Argentina earlier this year.
He has also helped steer the improvements of the GSX-RR and is looking forward to continuing his and the project's development.
He said, "I’m very happy about this contract renewal. Even when I was still in Moto2, and I was planning to move to MotoGP, it was always the Suzuki project which looked brightest and most interesting in my eyes.
"My debut last year was complicated; there was my back injury in the 2016 Valencia test, then the ankle injury while training, and finally the arm injury in Austin. So after only two races we had already been through a very tough time, but I always felt the affection and support of Suzuki and the whole team. We were able to turn the situation around through being patient, working hard, and being consistent, and finally this year we got the first podium together with my third place in Argentina.
But no matter the results, whether good or bad, the mood in the box has always been positive. The project that the Team have set up for me is fantastic, I can fully trust the capabilities of the Company and the Team when it comes to development and improvement, and I’m sure we can continue to aim for big results. Now we only have to keep on working hard to see just how far we can go…
He said, "I’m very happy about this contract renewal. Even when I was still in Moto2, and I was planning to move to MotoGP, it was always the Suzuki project which looked brightest and most interesting in my eyes.
"My debut last year was complicated; there was my back injury in the 2016 Valencia test, then the ankle injury while training, and finally the arm injury in Austin. So after only two races we had already been through a very tough time, but I always felt the affection and support of Suzuki and the whole team. We were able to turn the situation around through being patient, working hard, and being consistent, and finally this year we got the first podium together with my third place in Argentina.
"But no matter the results, whether good or bad, the mood in the box has always been positive. The project that the team have set up for me is fantastic, I can fully trust the capabilities of the company and the team when it comes to development and improvement, and I’m sure we can continue to aim for big results. Now we only have to keep on working hard to see just how far we can go."
Davide Brivio, team manager, added, "I’m very happy that we have been able to finalise the renewal of Alex’s contract for the 2019 and 2020 MotoGP seasons.
"Alex is growing and improving fast, and knowing that we will have a long time together allows everybody to concentrate and work even harder to achieve important results with him.
"I’m glad that Alex was happy to stay with us, and I want to thank Alex’s crew and everyone in the team, as well as all the staff in Japan for creating a nice environment where he feels he can continue to work well and grow. Now let’s carry on doing a great job with this exciting project together."