The 2025 season is fast approaching! Until February 27, the day before the opening round in Thailand, Let's talk MotoGP will focus on each of the riders entered in the premier class. We will discuss the anticipation they generate, their abilities, and, to finish, deliver a small prediction. We begin this series with Alex Rins, Yamaha rider.
Why him?
When I talked about the individual seasons of all the elements of the grid, at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025, I had opted for the descending order (i.e. from the last to the world champion), which seemed quite logical to me. Today, I start the previews of the future season by Alex Rins. Why this choice? Simply because I decided to start with the drivers I least expect. So, at the end of February, I will talk about those who have much more to play for, whose fate arouses a kind of excitement.
Alex Rins is looking really old… or maybe it’s just me? Photo: Yamaha
Alex Rins' choice for today is therefore revealing. Concretely, I don't see how he could surprise me. See this as a possible ironic revenge on destiny, because last year, I expected a lot from him and he did nothing all year long ; by putting him first, maybe he'll reveal himself just to prove me wrong.
Invisible, when he's there!
Two phenomena push me to such pessimistic conclusions. First, his level in 2024. While he was moving to Yamaha after a few very successful races at Honda LCR, one could imagine that his adaptation would allow him, at least, to achieve a few highlights during the year. After all, he has never been very consistent in performance, but each season, he distinguished himself, at least once. And this victory in Austin on the RC213V only confirmed this impression.
Then came the cold shower. Alex Rins only entered the top 10 twice in 2024. I expected him to compete with Quartararo, at least for a few races. But when Fabio got the measure of his YZR-M1, he couldn't do anything. He wasn't (that) bad, but just, invisible. How many times have we seen him on screen in a race? Twenty times? This is the absolute maximum.
And then there are the injuries, which, as always, weigh down his seasons.. I hope for him that he will have his first full season since 2019 (!), but I doubt it because things rarely get better.
What could be better?
Yes, I would like to see the flaming Rins, the brawling Rins. But this Rins is from 2019, and 2019 was six years ago.. We saw vague reminiscences of it at the end of 2022, but it didn't last long. For 2025, I imagine, unfortunately, a similar exercise to 2024, and believe me: I hope I'm wrong. I've already had the opportunity to say on multiple occasions that this is one of my favorite drivers.
Alex Rins needs to come back into the discussion. We need to talk about him again. That's his mission. Photo: Yamaha MotoGP
It is with a heavy heart that I come to such a prognosis, but nothing leads me to say that he will do better. Yes, the YZR-M1 can improve. But if it does, I see Fabio dominating at Yamaha first. Rins, who belongs to the last decade, will have a hard time closing the gap – much bigger at the end of 2024 than at the beginning. He should beat Jack Miller, but it might be a bit more complicated for Miguel Oliveira on equal bikes. And still, I can't bring myself to ignore the injuries, which could, again, make him miss one to four races. That plays into the accounting and certainly not in his favor.
This is a serious situation, because after two average years, a driver's place becomes much less assured, no matter his name. If Alex Rins does not react immediately, the teams will no longer see him as the one who beat Marc Marquez at Silverstone, but as a driver who is flirting with his thirties, very often injured, and who has not played a world title since 2015.
In short, he would have to force the recruiters to see the glass half full concerning him. Ideally, this will happen through one-off exploits, well-judged races and progress compared to the previous year. If he avoids visits to the infirmary, let's say it will be a success.
The prognosis
In this final paragraph – which will come back every evening – I will not try to determine the precise position of each driver, but rather, try to guess an area of the ranking in which they could finish the coming year. In the case of Rins, I imagine him finishing in the same waters as last year, or between 17th and 19th place overall.
Where do you see Alex Rins ending up in 2025? Tell me in the comments!
As a reminder, this article only reflects the thoughts of its author, and not of the entire editorial team.
I don't see him coming out of the shadow of Fabio Quartararo, the real leader at Yamaha. Photo: Yamaha
Cover photo: Yamaha MotoGP
