Moving from two to four wheels can be a common transition, but what Álex Rins is about to do is far from ordinary. The Catalan rider has announced that 2026 will be his last season in MotoGP. And not only in MotoGP. Rins is leaving motorcycles altogether. The reason is that he wants to begin a sporting career as a car driver.
Rins had offers on the table to continue racing motorcycles at the highest level, but at 30 years old he has decided to make a 180-degree turn in his sporting career. Rins wants to race in Formula 3. He himself has confessed that he is already drafting his plan to begin at the third rung of the ladder toward Formula 1.
Álex Rins wants to race the Dakar… and Formula 3
Álex Rins surprised everyone when he announced his retirement from motorcycles. At only 30 years old, Rins is not leaving MotoGP behind alone; he is hanging up his helmet. He will not compete in Superbikes or any other category either, despite having offers. From now on his career will have two extra wheels: he wants to race cars, and not just any car.
Asked about whether he was leaving MotoGP to race the Dakar, Rins dropped the bomb: “Yes, it’s a possibility. But there is also the option of me climbing into Formula 3.” In other words, Rins does not rule out enrolling in the lowest rung of the ladder toward Formula 1. Let us remember that Formula 3 is one of the feeders to the world championship.
Rins insists that “I can’t stay at home! The four wheels and cars always wake something in me. I’ve always trained with them at home, on snow.” At first glance, Dakar would be the most logical choice for a motorcycle rider, and we’ve already seen others like Carlos Checa try it. But Rins could turn the screw a bit more.
Rins arrived in MotoGP in 2017 and has been there for a decade, until 2026. In total he has won six races, five with Suzuki and one, the last, with a Honda. A serious injury in 2023, an open fracture of the tibia and fibula, weighed down his career decisively. And the coup de grâce was signing with Yamaha at the brand’s worst historical moment.
Rins found himself without a seat in MotoGP for 2027, but even so he could have continued his career in Superbikes, where teams like Go Eleven offered him a satellite Ducati Panigale V4 R. However, Rins has followed his instinct, hangs up the motorcyclist’s helmet and switches to cars, where he will start a new path.
The Catalan confirms that “there is nothing closed in any case: whether on circuit, on dirt, in the Dakar or in whatever else. We are working on something”.
Images | Michelin
