Valencia MotoGP: Alex Rins returns for LCR Honda farewell

Peter McLaren's picture
22 Nov 2023
Alex Rins, MotoGP, Australian MotoGP, 20 October

Alex Rins has been given the go-ahead by doctors to make a return to MotoGP action at Valencia this weekend, his final event for LCR Honda.

The Spaniard, who won the 2022 Valencia finale for Suzuki, continues to recover from complicated leg fractures at Mugello in May.

Although he took part in the grands prix of Japan, Indonesia and Australia (Friday), ongoing pain forced another round of surgery and Rins was replaced by Iker Lecuona for the Malaysian and Qatar rounds.

The COTA winner, who is joining Monster Yamaha for 2024, will now make his final RC213V appearance this weekend before an M1 debut at the Tuesday test.

Rins' 2-1 results at COTA remain the highest-scoring weekend of the season for a Honda rider, with the 34 points scored comfortably clear of the 19 for Marc Marquez during his best event (Motegi).

However, Rins has scored just 20 points from his other Honda appearances.

Johann Zarco will leave Pramac Ducati to take over Rins' seat at LCR next season, alongside Takaaki Nakagami.