This year is the first season since 2016 that Maverick Viñales has not achieved a podium finish or victory in at least one of the first four races. However, the Spanish rider insists that he has never felt better on a MotoGP bike than he does now on Aprilia.
Despite the fact that he has not yet obtained outstanding results in 2022, Viñales believes that he is “close” to being a candidate, feeling much stronger than with the Yamaha in previous years.
“I feel much better now because the line we’re taking is leveling up,” he confessed when asked by Motorsport.com if he feels better than when he was winning races and scoring podiums on the Yamaha.
“Everything is going up faster than expected. There will come a weekend where everything works, that’s for sure.”
Maverick Viñales will contest his tenth race as an Aprilia rider at this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, having joined the brand midway through the critical 2021 season after his relationship with Yamaha slowly deteriorated.
The Spanish rider currently occupies 14th place in the MotoGP World Championship qualifying sheet, after scoring 19 points with a seventh place finish in Argentina, while his teammate Aleix Espargaró led Aprilia to victory in the same race.
“It’s a matter of time, especially how to get a little more out of the bike because sometimes I struggle a lot.”
“It’s clear that if we keep up the work that we’re doing, we’ll be at the front. But when I do that, I want to be there every weekend.”
“I’m only one step away from being able to fight for good results”, the Spanish rider was honest.
