What Maverick Vinales Needs From Aprilia To Save His 2023 Season
Categories: MotoGP
After a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix, Maverick Vinales reveals what he needs from Aprilia to save his 2023 MotoGP season.
For Aprilia star rider Maverick Vinales, the 2023 MotoGP season is going anything but according to plan. After his ‘settling in’ season and a strong Aprilia year in 2022, ‘Top Gun’ set his sights on title contention this year – but so far the results have been lacking.
While Vinales had only crashed twice over the course of the entire season in 2022, he reached that number on the German Grand Prix weekend alone.
Seven points from the last five race weekends round off a disappointing first phase of the season for the Spaniard.
It was at Assen, where Vinales has consistently put in terrific performances in recent years and took his first podium for Aprilia in 2022, that he fell short of expectations. In the sprint, Vinales did not manage more than seventh place, and in the main race, as at Le Mans and Mugello, he crashed through no fault of his own.
But surprisingly, he said, “I’m very happy about my race.”
“I’m discovering the limit of the bike at the moment and that’s when things like this happen,” the Aprilia ace appeased, explaining, “I started with a killer mentality and pushed to the maximum. Something like a crash can then just happen, we have to learn from this. I lost the front without warning.”
The Spaniard, who is known for his rather mediocre starting skills, actually got off to a relatively good start in the main race and was already in 5th place after two fastest race laps.
“The grip level was very low compared to the morning. I have never experienced these temperatures in Assen,” confirmed Viñales, but at the same time, he stressed: “But that is no excuse. I simply rode over the limit.”
Qualifying is everything in MotoGP
For the second half of the season, Viñales hopes for more luck: “We need more tailwind. So far we’ve always been fighting, which has been a nightmare.”
“But we have the potential and are mentally strong. Our bike has the potential to ride at the front. However, we especially need to improve our performance on the qualifying tire, because there we are still far from our best.”
