SportsNews

Rins: Leg injury not the reason for poor results

Published

1 year ago

October 10, 2024

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing © Autosport.com

Alex Rins has stressed that his lack of competitiveness at struggling Yamaha has nothing to do with the limp with which he has been walking since his freak accident at Mugello over a year ago.

Both Rins and Fabio Quartararo have voiced their disappointment with the lack of grip on the M1 increasingly loudly of late. They have cited multiple problems with the bike, which is the most sensitive on the grid to changes in the level of grip from one circuit to the next.

At Motegi, the Spaniard and the Frenchman struggled with the Yamaha’s lack of traction and rear grip. Quartararo finished twelfth in Sunday’s Grand Prix, more than 32 seconds behind winner Francesco Bagnaia. He lost a place to Johann Zarco on the last lap as a result of running out of fuel.

It was the second such case in three weeks for Quartararo, after exactly the same trouble struck at Misano two races earlier.

Six-time MotoGP winner Rins had an even more disappointing Japanese Grand Prix. He finished second last, more than 40 seconds behind Bagnaia and ahead of only the Iwata factory’s test rider, wildcard Remy Gardner.

The Catalan, normally a talkative rider with a great sense of humour, was not at all amused by his time in Japan. Apart from the result itself and the gap to the front of the field, he felt it could also mislead observers into thinking the performance level is down to something more than just the bike.

Rins still has an obvious limp as a legacy of the left ankle injury he sustained when he crashed at Mugello last year, an accident that led him to miss more races (12) than he rode in (eight).

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
© Autosport.com

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Another accident at Assen this season put him out of action in Germany and Britain. Rins’s best result since switching from LCR Honda to Yamaha for this season has been a ninth place at Aragon.

Despite his poor run of form, he stresses that the leg is not a factor at all.

“People start making wrong assumptions, Rins told Autosport. “If I had a left leg like my right, my results would be identical. On the bike, it doesn’t affect me at all.”

Yamaha is in the midst of a process of change as it looks to start climbing towards the top of the standings under the leadership of Max Bartolini, the technical director who arrived this year from Ducati.

In addition to regaining a satellite team in 2025, the Japanese manufacturer has advanced the V-twin four-cylinder engine project. It hopes to test this on track at some point next season. But Rins and Quartararo may have run out of patience by then.

“It’s obvious that we won’t have the V4 engine for the last races,” continued Rins. “If we’re lucky it will come on the scene in the middle of next year. We need something before that.

“We are reaching a critical moment. It’s not that we are not working, but that we’re not getting it right.

“In every race, my heart rate doesn’t drop below 190 beats per minute. And that’s to finish last, 40 seconds behind the winner. It’s clear that this is not the way.”

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
© Autosport.com

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Two Grands Prix ago at Misano, Quartararo’s seventh place finish – which would have been fifth but for the fuel issue – was a breath of fresh air for Yamaha.

However, this was more due to the number of kilometres covered at the track than an improvement in the prototype’s performance. Two tests and two Grands Prix in the space of a month gave the technicians enough time to find the rear grip that they miss so much on a conventional weekend.

Another factor at Misano, according to Rins, was Quartararo’s affinity for the track.

“What happened in Misano was not a real [breakthrough]. For Fabio, that track is like Austin is for me.”

SportsNews

EPL: Fulham must move on from defeat to Manchester City — Iwobi

Published

3 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Alex Iwobi says Fulham must stay positive despite their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

Marco Silva’s side put up a spirited display in the encounter, and were unlucky not to get at least one point.

Iwobi started the fight back by scoring the second goal for Fulham early in the second half.

The versatile midfielder’s compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze then rose from the bench to score two more goals for the Cottagers.

Manchester City, however, held on to go home with maximum points.

Iwobi stated that they deserved more from the game.

“I feel disappointed because we didn’t get anything out of the fighting spirit that we showed, but I think we have to take the positivity from the game,” Iwobi told the club’s official website.

Fulham will be away to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League game on Sunday.

SportsNews

EPL: Guardiola names team that impresses him everyday

Published

3 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has named the Premier League club that has impressed him so much this season.

The Spaniard said that Enzo Maresca’s side have really impressed him with the improvement they make everyday.

Speaking after Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League on Tuesday night, Guardiola pointed out that a team must remain consistent to win the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just two points behind Arsenal with the victory over Fulham, but the Gunners could maintain their five points lead with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

“Chelsea impresses me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long,” he told reporters after the win.

“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we in December, January or February we were behind.

“The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long.

“But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”

SportsNews

Outrage As ‘Biological Male’ Wins World’s Strongest Woman Event in Texas (Photos)

Published

1 week ago

November 26, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman final has sparked outrage after an alleged transgender athlete won gold.

American Jammie Booker, who is accused of being a biological male, beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.

According to Mail Online, Thompson walked off the podium, appearing to say ‘this is bulls***,’ while Booker celebrated. The Brit has since been crowned the ‘true World’s Strongest Woman’ by her coach and some of her peers.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, has sensationally claimed that no one – not even the organizers – knew about Booker’s background.

Details on the American are not clear, but the publication sighted a YouTube video – uploaded to what appears to be Booker’s YouTube channel in September 2017, with Booker saying: ‘Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.

‘I’m 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.’

On Monday night, Roberts posted a picture on Instagram that read ‘Protect Women’s Sports.’ She wrote alongside the picture: ‘I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.

But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.

This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.

‘What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.

‘My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.

‘I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025’