In just his third race at the handlebars of the Aprilia since parting ways with the Yamaha two months ago, the Spanish rider achieved his first top 10 of the season, finishing eighth at the finish line of the Emilia Grand Prix MotoGP race. Romagna .
Since his stormy departure from Yamaha, Maverick Viñales has been able to do two tests and play two grand prix on the Italian track, which surely made things easier for him in some way to be more competitive this past Sunday, managing to get very close to his experienced partner in Aprilia, Aleix Espargaró, who beat him by only 139 thousandths.
“I didn’t have a chance to pass Aleix, I lost too much time behind Luca Marini and I didn’t get there fast enough to try, but honestly it wasn’t what I was looking for. I’m not focused on him or anyone else. Right now I only think about my feelings, I have to find the best compromise with the bike because I feel that we can have good potential”, Maverick explained.
The Aprilia rider understands that the multiple crashes that occurred during the race led him to climb many positions in the final classification. However, the Catalan showed great pace in the second part of the race.
“I still don’t feel comfortable with the bike and I can already be second or third in fastest lap in a race. I’m at a point where I feel like I’m not a fluent driver, but I can go fast and I’m very curious to see what I can do when I feel comfortable.”
Viñales started 19th on the grid, from the seventh row, something that logically penalized him.
“It’s always difficult when you start so far back, especially the first part of the race, it’s difficult to find the line and be able to overtake, I lost a lot of time behind some riders,” he said.
“However, we made a change to the bike at the last moment and it worked very well, we used the race as a test and in the second part I was able to lap in an average 1:32, which is a very good time in the conditions we are in. it ran”, pointed out Maverick , for whom the most important thing was “to finish in the top 10 without making any mistakes”.
The Aprilia rider hopes “not to have to get used to starting from behind”, and for this he will focus on making a good classification on Saturdays.
“I still need to get to know the bike and do a fast lap, once I get it and I feel comfortable, we can start thinking about getting good results. But I don’t see myself very far from that. I think we have a lot of potential because without being comfortable on the bike we are already going fast”, he assessed.
“I would say I’m at 50%, I don’t know the bike or where the limit is, the team doesn’t know me either. Sometimes we improve in one aspect but worsen another. We have to find the balance to be able to ride comfortably. I’m far from 100%, but the times are competitive, I have very little to go and that makes me confident in the future”, settled the boy from Roses .
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Aprilia Racing
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
Photo by: Team Gresini
