Alex Rins says he is “very happy” to finally be back on the podium after more than a year as the Suzuki man “struggled” mentally to keep going from his shoulder injury.
Rins’ has not stood on the podium since his emphatic victory at Silverstone last August. His best result of the season was a fourth at Brno, while team-mate Joan Mir took three podiums to plunge into the battle for the title.
At the Catalonia Grand Prix he came out late to overtake both Jack Miller’s Franco Morbidelli and Petronas SRT in the final stages of the event, eventually finishing third behind race winners Fabio Quartararo and Mir.
The Spaniard believes his struggles over the aftermath of the nasty shoulder injury sustained in Jerez at the start of the 20s campaign were “largely in the head”, which confirms that he is “in no pain”, but still has problems for energy beyond the early rounds.
“It’s been a long time since my last podium, but I’m really happy about the podium as we’ve had a lot of struggles in the last few races,” said Rins.
“I had a serious shoulder injury in Jerez and I’ve struggled a lot since then. It was mainly in my head because I’m already 100% and don’t feel any bone pain, but after four or five laps I’m still tired and at the limit.
“I’m so glad we worked so hard on and off the track to reach 100% and I want to thank Suzuki and my personal team for working to get me back. It’s been a tough season. ”
One of Rins’ Achilles heels this year was qualifying. The two-time MotoGP winner only made it to 13th place on the grid at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, while Mir’s other GSX-RR was only marginally better in eighth place.
He believes a better set-up compromise is needed to address Suzuki’s lack of performance in a single lap, but praised the “big step” the Japanese manufacturer has made this season.
“My goal was to start well and regain positions on the first laps. In the beginning I struggled to overtake Pol and lost time with him,” added Rins.
“Then I tried to concentrate on myself and my driving style and to spare the tires as much as possible, and you could see the lap times at the end, we drove 1 or 2 seconds slower.
“It looks like we can keep up the pace, we’re having big problems qualifying with a new tire and we can’t get into the front, but at the end of the race we’re there so we have to find a better (set) -up ) Compromise for improvement on Saturday.
“They (Suzuki) are doing an amazing job, it’s a shame not to be on the podium in the last race because I had the potential, but they have been doing great since I got here. They have worked hard every year to bring us new items and for this year they have made a big step. ”