Last night saw the debut episode of MotoGP™ Live: A Sit Down With, as 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz and Team Suzuki Ecstar's Alex Rins joined host Jack Appleyard to open up on a wide array of topics. The pair both revealed who their favourite teammates were, and why they were their favourites too, plus discussed the fierce rivalries that fuel their desires to win.
Most notably, Rins opened up on the rivalry he has with Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez. In particular, the two-time MotoGP™ race winner pinpointed a moment during Q2 of the Czech Republic Grand Prix where he felt Marquez had singled him out and began "considering him as a rival". The duo's rivalry would go up a notch just two weeks later in 2019 when Rins got the better of the eight-time World Champion at the final corner in Silverstone; something the Suzuki man says made the Honda rider "so, so angry".
"Marc for me is the man to beat," said Rins, during Thursday's episode of MotoGP™ Live: A Sit Down With. "The rivalry is so high. Already in 2019, I shared more moments on track with him and, for sure, when he wins or he finishes in front of me, I finish the race and I’m a bit angry. I want to beat him but also, it’s like this for him. I remember in Silverstone when I beat him, he was so angry, so, so angry."
“Marc is so good on these mental things; he plays a lot with all of the riders. For example, Brno last year comes to mind. I was doing a fast lap and he looked behind, he saw me, opened the line but not too much. I was on the dry line and I touched him. I lost my lap but ok, I continued pushing. In the end, at the last chicane in Brno, before going into the left he overtook me so close, we were so close to crashing, and then he went into the box. That moment comes to my mind and I knew there that Marc was considering me as a rival.
"Yeah, I like this because it means I’m doing a good job. Marc is an incredible rider, he wins a lot of races, a lot of Championships and if he is thinking about me as a rival, it means that I am there fighting with him."
You can watch the full 45-minute show OnDemand right now with the pair also discussing who is likely to benefit from the extraordinary 2020 MotoGP™ World Championship. Make sure to tune in two weeks' time as two more high-profile guests Sit Down With motogp.com.