AUSTIN, Texas — It’s been two years since Honda last won in MotoGP, dating back to the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP.
On Sunday however, Alex Rins stopped that drought, scoring the win in the Americas Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas.
Rins earned a podium in Saturday’s sprint race, then earned his sixth career MotoGP win at the Texas track.
“I was trying to push as hard as possible to follow Pecco (Bagnaia). When he crashed, I started to push and follow my pace,” Rins said. “Yesterday I finished the Sprint much more tired. Today I was able to keep my concentration and make few mistakes because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction and it was throwing the bike off. I made a mistake at turn 14, when I went wide.
Then (Luca) Marini caught me a little bit, but I thought I had to keep pushing and managed to do it. At Jerez we will start again from scratch to build our weekend.”
While reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia scored the win in the sprint race, a crash eight laps into Sunday’s event derailed his chances.
With Bagnaia out, Rins dominated the remaining laps of the 20-lap event, topping Luca Marini and 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo.
Rins led by 3.498 seconds at the finish.
With three races down, Marco Bezzecchi leads the points standings, followed by Bagnaia and Rins.