{"id":395854,"date":"2026-04-24T19:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/395854\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:00:23","slug":"motogp-news-alex-rins-confirms-yamaha-exit-as-new-line-up-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/395854\/","title":{"rendered":"MotoGP news: Alex Rins confirms Yamaha exit as new line-up looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/YFR__GG90796.jpg\" alt=\"MotoGP star confirms Yamaha exit as all-new line-up looms\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYamaha rider Alex Rins. <\/p>\n<p>The Spaniard has raced full-time in the premier class since 2017, first with Suzuki until the end of 2022.<\/p>\n<p>A one-year stint at Honda satellite LCR followed before joining the factory Yamaha team in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking ahead of his home grand prix at Jerez, Rins revealed how he learned the news via Yamaha boss Massimo Meregalli.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c11 days ago, I called Massimo Meregalli, just a normal call. I have a really good relationship with him,\u201d said Rins.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fcttn.com\/products\/v8s-in-nz-tee\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3-1.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I called him, I asked him straight way, \u2018Do you have any update?\u2019 And he didn\u2019t say anything. So I said, \u2018Maio?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me he shouldn\u2019t say anything but he would tell me because he has a good relationship with me. He said \u2018don\u2019t say anything now, but we have signed the second rider\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has long been rumoured that Fabio Quartararo will depart at the end of the year for Honda.<\/p>\n<p>With Rins gone too, it means Yamaha is poised to have an all-new line-up in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Rins is expected to be replaced by Ai Ogura, who currently races for Aprilia satellite squad Trackhouse.<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old rider from Japan has been a standout on the RS-GP26, finishing two of the first three grands prix this year in the top five.<\/p>\n<p>Another name in the mix is factory Aprilia rider and 2024 champion Jorge Martin who has been outperformed by his teammate Marco Bezzecchi this year.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, Rins is a free agent and without a ride for 2027.<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old expressed his disappointment at the news of his impending exit amid what he thought was a promising future with Yamaha.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not in a really good moment, because of this news,\u201d said Rins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you know, when I was in LCR I was feeling so good and Yamaha came, made me an offer, and I went for it because I thought we could do great things together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince I got on the inline four I\u2019ve been struggling a bit, that\u2019s reality, but then when they started to explain the new project of the V4 I was feeling quite good because I had new opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs soon as I tried the bike, it has some limitations \u2013 as everyone can see \u2013 but yeah I felt a bit better than with the inline four.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut they took a decision, so I need to respect it. I will be giving 100 percent, I\u2019m the same Alex who won with the Suzuki or the Honda, and there are still 18 races in front of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019re going to go with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rins said he did not want to switch to Dorna\u2019s sister category \u2013 WorldSBK \u2013 insisting that he still has what it takes to be a MotoGP rider.<\/p>\n<p>His resume includes six wins and 18 podiums from 144 starts. His last win came at Circuit of the Americas in 2023 with LCR.<\/p>\n<p>MotoGP continues with the Grand Prix of Spain on April 24-27 at Jerez.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.cfjump.com\/92797\/b\/250635\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/250635.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yamaha rider Alex Rins. The Spaniard has raced full-time in the premier class since 2017, first with Suzuki&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-395854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}