Alex Rins bids farewell to Suzuki after Valencia: “They’ve been a family to me”

The Valencia GP, the final round of the 2022 MotoGP championship, brought a range of emotions, from the joy of Bagnaia and Ducati’s title win, to that of Alex Rins, who rounded out his Suzuki adventure with an outstanding race win. The latter bids the best possible farewell to the factory Hamamatsu team, which has now officially withdrawn from the world championship.

Having spent six seasons aboard the GSX-RR, the Spanish rider was unable to conceal his sadness once he crossed the line, although he did end the year in the best possible way by securing one of the greatest wins of his career. His farewell letter to Suzuki before moving to Honda demonstrates just how Alex remained faithful to the brand to the last.

Rins: “We built a winning bike together”

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“We’ve crossed the line. To be honest, I cried when I realised this would be our last race”, admits #42 on social channels. “Not only because I thought this would be our year, but also and especially because Suzuki has been a family to me, right from when I joined them in 2017. We built a winning bike together, ran some epic races and fought for the title, but we also had some dark times, with bad injury and less than satisfactory results”.

“We have disagreed and grown together, never throwing in the towel not even when we’ve struggled in qualifying or failed to score points in a race”, continues the Spaniard. “You need to really trust in your group to ride at 350 km/h and my team worked so hard until the very last metres of the race. This final win is confirmation of that and I hope the future brings great things for both me and you. For those who will stay in the paddock, I’ll see you again next season, while I wish those who won’t be back all the best for the next chapter in your lives. Thanks everyone, from the team blue rider.”