Three-time MotoGP race winner Rins had to miss the previous Grand Prix of Catalonia when he broke his right arm in a bike accident on the Barcelona circuit.
Before the German GP this weekend, he announced that he had been declared fit to drive after an operation, that he had crashed into a van that he could not see because he was sending “an important message” on his phone.
“Yes, sure, as you say, the truth is this – I crashed there in Montmelo because I sent an important message,” said Rins on Thursday at the Sachsenring.
“Of course we have to stay away from our phones, because even if we drive and I lock in [myself], we always took the phone to see the time, to send a message and if you pay attention to the phone, pay attention not to the other cars or the road.
“Of course it’s hard. I’d rather hit the van like I did than hit a person.
“Imagine there are guys who paint and the van wasn’t there? It would be worse.
“Well, that’s a clear example [of the dangers]. “
Rins says he initially got back on his bike after the incident and drove back to his RV with no problems, but discovered that something was wrong when he arrived at the hospital in Barcelona.
“I remember everything,” he added.
Alex Rins, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“When I got into the van, I get up and there was a guy.
“He gave me a bottle of water, I cleaned my leg a little, the foot where I had some blood.
“When I saw the arm at that moment, it wasn’t that bad. I broke my left hand in 2015 [bone], the radius, with a flat route.
“When I crashed [in 2015] I got up, took the bike and did two laps, then I said, “I’m fine, but I’m a little bit in pain”.
“So I went to the hospital. Exactly the same as in Montmelo.
“After the crash, I took the bike, drove to my mobile home without a cell phone – the cell phone was already broken, the screen.
“I’m going to the hospital and when I got there I saw the hand with a lot of fluid on the top of the hand and I might feel something important [was broken].
“Doctor [Xavier] Me and his team gave me the opportunity to start the cast for four weeks and recover or have surgery and start moving in a week.
“Of course I’m a driver and I want to be on the bike as quickly as possible. So I chose the fastest option. “