Alcañiz.- After carrying out two test days in Misano last week, Viñales returned to competition this Friday at Motorland on the Aprilia RS-GP . Thus he left behind a hard month that ended with his immediate dismissal from Yamaha and the incorporation to the Noale brand.
After the good feelings he had in the test, the Catalan immediately got down to work in Aragon. As soon as the stopwatch started running in FP1, the #12 started at the wheel of his new teammate, Aleix Espargaró. Viñales finished training with 21 laps in 19th place, 2.1 seconds off the best time recorded by Marc Márquez and less than nine tenths off his neighbor in the box.
In the afternoon, the driver from Roses (Girona) dropped almost 1.4s, keeping a time of 1:48.755 that left him 20th in the day’s total, 1.1s behind Jack Miller, the fastest this Friday in the Teruel layout, ahead of Espargaró.
“At first he was nervous, but then he went too far with the laps,” said Viñales . “I’m trying to understand how to go fast on this bike. I’m just adapting, trying to do all the sectors together.”
“I have improved a lot from the first test to the second. I hope to make another jump tomorrow. The bike is very different. We did not make any plans with Aleix, just see what lines he followed, because they are very different from what I used to do.”
(Before reading on, click on the link or on the image to see all the photos of Maverick Viñales at the 2021 MotoGP Aragon GP)
Viñales does not set any immediate goals at the moment and is focused on getting to know his new prototype in depth.
“To learn how the bike goes, you don’t have to set any results. I’m trying to go where the bike takes me, and that’s why I’m probably getting carried away. I brake too soon, but I’m getting closer. The most difficult thing is braking, because in I’m happy with acceleration, I control it well. I think we’ll get there, and I still need to trust the front end more”, he added.
Accustomed to taking the top spots with Yamaha, Mack was not surprised to finish so far back in the standings this time.
“I didn’t expect to be closer, because I have to learn many things. In a test you can quickly reach the limit. The times have not been bad, especially if I manage to balance the partials. The most difficult thing is to join the four sectors”, he admitted .
Finally, Viñales compared the Aprilia –with a V4 engine– with the Suzuki and the Yamaha –inline four engine– that he had driven in the past.
“The Suzuki and the Yamaha are very similar bikes, but this one has a different philosophy,” he stressed.
