Rins expected Honda to be ‘more physical, faster’ than Marquez, Mir?

Having a reputation as one of the more demanding bikes to ride on the current MotoGP grid, Rins believes he’s adapting well to the RC213V, despite the Japanese manufacturer continuing to struggle overall. 

Rins was the fastest Honda rider on day-one of the Portimao test, before finishing directly behind Joan Mir and Marc Marquez on Sunday. 

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The Spaniard was over eight tenths down on Francesco Bagnaia, which was also the case during day-one, however, Rins remains happy with the outcome of the final pre-season test.

Rins said: "It was a good day, honestly. We did a good step compared to Sepang. More or less I’m trying to bring the bike [closer] to my riding style. 

"I’m quite happy because on the Sprint race [simulation] - we did a Sprint race [simulation] in Sepang and here I was closer to the first position guys. Still far but closer - 0.4, 0.5s."

After LCR Honda Team Principal, Lucio Cecchinello, admitted that Rins’ adaptation to the RC213V had been better than expected, Rins gave his thoughts about where his bike ranks against the Suzuki in terms of being more physical or not. 

"It’s a bit more physical and demanding than the Suzuki," added Rins. "Year-by-year everyone is getting closer and before I was thinking that this bike was more physical. But I expected more than what it is."

Rins quicker than six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez?

While Honda look out of contention for victories at the moment, the battle between Marquez, Joan Mir and Rins could be a thrilling one in 2023.

Time attack pace was very close between all three riders on day-two, however, Rins believes he holds an advantage when it comes to race pace. 

"In Sepang I was looking a lot at the data of Marc [Marquez] and Joan [Mir], but not today," said the Spaniard. "Yesterday I compared to them and was quite fast, with a good pace. 

"Today I haven’t looked at the data yet but I will check. In race pace I think I’m a bit faster than them but you can always find something that they are doing different to you. 

"I did a full time attack; okay, I’m 15th, 0.8s from the first [rider] but compared to the other Hondas they have a different bike than me."