Published: 06 Aug 2024
Maverick Vinales: Aprilia 'Lost Its Way' and It Gets 'Worse and Worse'
After a disappointing run at Silverstone, Maverick Vinales warns Aprilia could slip behind further in MotoGP. The Italian manufacturer ‘lost its way’.
Maverick Vinales has expressed serious concerns about Aprilia’s declining performance in MotoGP following a disappointing British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Vinales, who won the Americas GP earlier this year, suffered severe tyre degradation on his RS-GP, causing him to fall from eighth on the grid to a frustrating 13th place, his worst result of the 2024 season.
Teammate Aleix Espargaro also struggled, dropping from pole position to finish sixth, a stark contrast to his victory at Silverstone the previous year.
“It’s difficult to accept the result. Honestly, it’s not what we are looking for,” Vinales said. “We need to understand that there is something missing because the degradation of the rear tyres is not even normal, so we must understand why in the last four races we haven’t been at the level we need to be in.”
Vinales called for a strategic reassessment to find solutions. “It’s important for the factory to pause and think about how we can reverse this because it’s getting worse and worse.”
The Spaniard suggests that Aprilia’s issues stem more from their own decline than Ducati’s improvements. “It seems that somehow we lost our way to be competitive,” he said. “I’m riding the bike on the limit, but the lap time and tyre deg[radation] are wrong.”
He noted a significant drop in qualifying pace compared to the previous year. “In ’22, I did 57.8 in quali, and this year I did a 58.1 and then crashed, so this is not normal. We need to regain the potential we had earlier this year.”
