Alex Rins believes the difficult experience he endured in the Czech Republic has ultimately made him a stronger rider after his superb victory at Silverstone. The Estrella Galicia rider lost a potential win at Brno after celebrating a lap short of the finish but put the nightmare firmly behind him by beating his teammate Alex Marquez and Gresini’s Enea Bastianini on a thrilling final lap.
The Spaniard, who had come in for some criticism after Brno, admitted to The Checkered Flag that the embarrassing incident had been weighing on his mind but feels he is a tougher mentally as a result and has now put that particular ghost to rest.
(Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)
“In Brno I made a big mistake but finally after Silverstone I no longer have to remember this incident after doing my best here and I’m happy with my race. It was a little bit difficult because all the people were asking me what happened and calling me an idiot but after this I think I came here stronger and did my best race of the season.”
Silverstone saw yet another Moto3 race featuring a leading group in excess of ten riders at one stage but in the end, just four remained at the front with polesitter Rins, Marquez and Bastianini joined by Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira. Rins snatched the lead three corners from home before pipping Marquez on the line by 0.011s and later explained what tactical approach, if any, he needed to take into the Grand Prix.
“At the end, it’s difficult to follow one strategy. The race was incredibly difficult and crazy but it was better than in Brno or in Indianapolis with less people in the group. Finally in the last three corners I was in the right position, going onto the final straight in third and that enabled me to pass Bastianini and Marquez. I just had to push as hard as possible after that to get the win.”
With his first victory of the season, Rins now trails championship leader Jack Miller by just 29 points but the 18 year old is remaining cautious about his own title hopes, adding that he expects KTM to bounce back from their difficulties at Silverstone.
“I must thank my team as well as Honda but the difficult thing now is to carry on this way. This track was good for Honda but maybe Misano will be good for KTM. Since Friday here, we could see Jack and Romano Fenati were trying to push but they couldn’t challenge so we will see what happens in the next race.”
