Rins signs new two-year contract for Suzuki MotoGP

Rins made his MotoGP debut with Suzuki in 2017 after being promoted from Moto2 and has stayed on the GSX-RR ever since.

The Spaniard has delivered his first single-season victories to Suzuki since his last title win in 2000, initially fending off Valentino Rossi for his maiden win in Austin and later beating Marc Marquez in a thrilling British Grand Prix by 0.014 seconds.

Rins would finish the campaign in fourth in the drivers’ standings.

Suzuki had made no secret of his desire to keep both Rins and Joan Mir for the next two years. Team principal Davide Brivio recently informed Motorsport.com that everything had been “coordinated” so that both would stay on the team.

Rins went live on Instagram on Sunday and confirmed his new deal with Brivio.

Brivio commented: “We are very pleased to confirm Alex Rins as works rider for Team Suzuki MotoGP for two more seasons; 2021 and 2022. With this agreement we are extending our relationship to six years and we believe that this stability will prove to be positive for all of us.

“I have to say this agreement was just waiting for a ‘stamp’ as both Suzuki and Alex had the will to move on together and a fundamental agreement for the continuation was reached months ago, proudly announcing it.

“Our goal as a team is to keep the whole working group together and to become even stronger, we had a fantastic end of the season last year and that is the starting point that we want to rely on when we can start racing again. ”

Rins himself added: “I wanted to continue with Suzuki and I finally did.

“I believe the project has the potential to be successful, I have a desire to win, and that’s why we are a perfect match. It’s the perfect place for me and we work hard together to achieve great results.

“I’ve always believed in the team, so it was easy to come to an agreement in principle very early on. Then we took some time to finalize the details and follow all internal processes. “

Mir’s contract extension has yet to be announced.

Suzuki is the third MotoGP manufacturer to begin finalizing its plans for 2021 after Yamaha kicked off the rider market in January when it confirmed Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo for its factory line-up in 2021.

Honda hit the headlines in February when it announced it had secured six-time world champion Marc Marquez for four more years in a € 100 million deal.

Ducati was known to be interested in both Vinales and Quartararo and Mir, but is now faced with a lack of options outside of their own stable of factory riders.