Alex Rins will race for the LCR Honda team for the next two years. The official announcement was made only today, but Rins will finish in the LCR is a foregone conclusion since the MotoGP race in Assen, where the Spaniard has conceded a lot.
“We’re almost done and one can imagine where I’m going next year with Alex Marquez leaving Gresini,” Rins told us on Sunday night of the Assen race.
Rins have two options: single seat with Gresini Ducati or with LCR Honda. But at Gresini, he was only offered a Ducati Desmosedici GP22, while HRC had promised Rins a 2023 Honda RC213V at the LCR. That made the difference.
Rins told us: “In the end I managed the Ducati option – the Gresini option – or the LCR option. “We talked to Ducati and they didn’t give me an official bike. I fought for a full-fledged bike and Honda was able to give me that ability.”
Those claims were made three weeks ago, so why is the announcement taking so long? Firstly, because the contract is directly with HRC, Honda has to sign a contract with Honda and go through the management agency of the Japanese factory.
Second, with a five-week break between Assen and Silverstone, the LCR and HRC can choose what they consider to be the best times for PR and media exposure.
Contracts are rarely announced immediately after signing, but are used as part of a PR campaign.
With Alex Rins, HRC clinches a proven race winner, while Rins is guaranteed a factory-required bike and two-year contract, giving him time to acclimate to Honda. RC213V without contract pressure from the first race.
How well Rins will adapt to the RC213V remains to be seen: his style is fast and sweeping, rather than physically aggressive, the opposite of what the bike appears to require.
The signing of Alex Rins brings the total number of officially confirmed signings to 11, or half of the 22-man grid by 2023.
Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli will continue to form the Monster Energy Yamaha team, while the Aprilia Racing team remains unchanged, with Maverick Viñales alongside Aleix Espargaro.
Jack Miller joins Brad Binder on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, while Marc Marquez has two more years left on his contract with Repsol Honda, and Pecco Bagnaia has signed for another two seasons with the Ducati Factory team.
Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio will form the Gresini Ducati team for 2023, and Alex Rins is now assembled on the LCR Honda bike.
Source: LCR Honda
