During the final day of pre-season testing for MotoGP at Buriram, Alex Rins shared one of his Yamaha V4 bikes with teammate Fabio Quartararo, humorously remarking that “sharing is caring.”
In the morning, Rins completed 29 laps and added another 25 in the afternoon, ultimately finishing 20th on the overall time sheets, 1.207 seconds off the best time.
“Managing a day with just one bike was tough,” Rins mentioned on Sunday evening. “We focused on trying some settings, but limited laps with just one bike were challenging. We conducted a sprint race simulation, but it was far behind our competitors, although we managed some 30 highs.”
“Towards the end, I attempted a time attack with a new tire. I made a slight improvement; however, the engine mileage had increased, and I felt a loss in power,” Rins added.
“Sharing is caring!”
Initially, it was believed that a technical issue had grounded Rins’s second bike, but he clarified that it was a request from Yamaha management. “I gave Fabio my other bike, so I just had one for the day,” he said. Rins admitted the conversation about sharing the bike took place the previous evening.
“Yeah, they approached me yesterday before dinner to ask if I was okay with it. I simply said that we need to support each other for the sake of our project. We need to be generous,” he grinned, adding, “Sharing is caring, right?”
Quartararo confirmed he too was limited to one bike, as both of his initial M1 machines were unusable. “Today, the engines had exceeded their mileage. Having only one bike was enough for me to focus on settings,” he explained, noting that his main goal was to find direction for improvement.
