With Maverick Vinales, we now know what to expect in the course of a MotoGP meeting. Performing well on Friday, he held his place until qualifying on Saturday, remaining on his momentum on Sunday morning before disappearing from the radar screens as soon as the race started the following afternoon. A redundant and sterile scenario which is all the more worrying because the person who is the main actor does not himself understand how it can get to this point...
However, Maverick Vinales announced himself as the driver capable of ending the series of victories of Marc Márquez on the delicate Austin route. Faster on Friday morning, he was on the second row when this edition of the Grand Prix of the Americas started. Then the red lights went out and the spell was broken…
The Yamaha official often regrets failed starts, but this time, wanting to succeed, he anticipated it. As Joan Mir. And the two men had to return to the pit lane. However, Casa Particular in Viñales made a point of sanctioning himself twice… He comments: “itIt's difficult to explain. I think the clutch overheated so it didn't separate properly. I was at full throttle, the bike moved, even though I was still holding the clutch pulled. The positive side is that I was able to overtake some opponents at the start »… A line of humor quickly crossed out: “ that's the only positive side... I immediately understood that I would be punished. Then I misunderstood the sentence, I lost many, many seconds ».
Because he didn't enter the pitlane first. He took the long turn dedicated to other sanctions… Which cost him three seconds more! “ We talked about this long turn penalty recently, so the misunderstanding arose. Completely my fault. It was useless ". We then had to regain our concentration and rhythm. A rhythm that can only lead to regrets…
📋@ mvkoficial12 and Mir faced ride through penalties for jump starts at the #AmericasGP ????????@YamahaMotoGP and @suzukimotogp riders share their thoughts on the sanctions they had to face at COTA 💬 pic.twitter.com/Yy9kvGb4ao
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 15, 2019
« Yes, after the punishment, I made a good comeback. I was only in 19th place after seven laps. But at the beginning, I caught up with a few opponents by taking them between 2 and 3 seconds per lap. I was riding well, I felt comfortable on the bike. If I had been at the top of the standings, I could have done even more. I didn't risk that much. I can't change this situation now. We must turn to Jerez. The team did a great job this weekend. So we must continue. Hopefully we will have better luck in the next races ».
« It's a shame, because it would have been a race for me... The soft front tire was the perfect choice. We saw it with Rins and Miller. My choice of tires was ideal. We could have been in front. We had the rhythm. But we must avoid these mistakes in the future ". A fault that he recognizes without difficulty: “ if you leave too early, you will have to be punished. We need to improve the clutch and all the preparations for the start ", said Casa Particular in Viñales, Moto3 world champion in 2013 with Calvo KTM. “ I moved, so the punishment was normal ».
