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The 15th place in which he finished testing at Portimao is not where Alex Rins would like to be, but the Catalan has several reasons to be satisfied with the work done over the last two days of testing.
“I’m pleased after the preseason we’ve done. Since Sepang, we’ve taken a step forward, and counting on new parts in Portimao has helped me understand our current situation – said the 27-year-old – Both in Malaysia and in Portugal I did a sprint race simulation and I'm closer to the first. Still far away, about four tenths to half a second, but it went better”.
First Honda in the standings on Saturday, the LCR rider completed the two days just 4 thousandths from Marc Marquez and 20 from Joan Mir, who ended up the quickest Honda man. Comforting signs for Rins, who is convinced he has a better pace than his two brand mates.
“While at Sepang I studied Marc and Joan's data a lot, at Portimao I concentrated more on my work and only analysed it at the end of the day. As for race pace, I think I'm a bit faster than them, I did better especially on Saturday, but I'll keep looking at their data because there's always something that can be done differently - admitted the former Suzuki rider - Over the last few minutes I tried to do a flying lap and finished fifteenth, eight tenths of a second from the first, which isn't the best. On the flying lap the other Honda riders have a different bike than mine. I don't know if it's better or not, but I'm quite happy to have lapped in the same tenth of a second as them."
Although there is still work to do, Rins' adaptation to the RC213V seems to be proceeding in the best possible way, also thanks to a bike that has turned out to be less aggressive than Alex expected: "The Honda is a little more demanding than the Suzuki, but before getting on it I thought it would be more physical than it really is", concluded the Spaniard.
