Rins feels like 2024 Yamaha MotoGP bike “rides me”

The Spaniard took a surprise first Honda victory at the Circuit of the Americas 12 months ago when he rode for the LCR squad, which would transpire to be HRC’s only visit to the top step of the podium all season.

Having swapped one uncompetitive bike for another in the factory Yamaha for 2024, Rins says he comes to Texas “dreaming” about a repeat win.

But, having struggled in the first two rounds of the season and come up with a best result of 13th at the Portuguese GP, Rins doesn’t feel like he is close to adapting to the M1 yet.

“For sure we all have dreams and if I say no, I would lie to you,” Rins said when asked if he could think about another COTA win.

“I dream about it, but honestly first of all we need to work, we need to work really hard.

“We need to work in the same way we are working, but for the results from the last races a little bit more.

“Still I’m a little bit [feeling like] the bike rides me – I don’t ride the bike.

“From what I saw in Portimao and in Qatar, we still didn’t find the perfect set-up, the perfect balance on the bike.

“After the Portimao race, we had a test, ‘very successful’ at only five laps, due to the weather conditions.

“We had planned to test some new set-ups there. We couldn’t, so we’re going to test tomorrow [Friday] morning if the track condition is fine.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s a really good track for me, I have really good memories.

“I really like the layout a lot, so let’s try to work hard and see what we are able to bring home.”

Rins is something of a circuit specialist in Texas, having taken his first Moto2 podium in only his third race in the class in 2015, before scoring a first win in 2016.

In 2019, he beat Valentino Rossi to register his maiden MotoGP victory when he rode for Suzuki.