By slamming the door of a Yamaha factory which still allowed him to be part of the top of the food chain in MotoGP, Maverick Viñales agreed to join the lions' den that is the peloton. With an Aprilia of which he had everything to discover, the Spaniard was not spared and he had to work on his known weakness of the timid start of the race marked by an average takeoff. An aggressiveness that he was also forced to find in order to seek the best possible qualification. An experience still to be perfected but which the Spaniard is happy with, since he now feels stronger...
The numbers show it, Maverick Vinales has become a mid-pack protagonist. A status that he certainly owes to the fact that he must adapt to a Aprilia V4 very different from his ex-Yamaha M1 with the in-line four-cylinder engine. Thus, during his last year in the factory team from the blazon to the tuning forks, the Spaniard had an average of 7,7 on the grid. In the current season, his first full year with Aprilia, the value is 13,6, almost twice as high. Likewise, in the first half of the season, Casa Particular in Viñales only started once from the second row with 5th place on the grid at Las Termas, and three times from the penultimate row. In the other seven races, he was in the middle of the pack, between the third and fifth rows.
An experience that the team memberAleix Espargaro, current second in the championship, 21 points behind the leader fabio quartararo, identified as a progression “ like in the jungle ". He also says : " of course I feel more comfortable at the top. But I learned a lot in the races where I struggled ". The nine-time Grand Prix winner specifies: “ I wasn't used to starting from the back. In my career, I usually started at the front because I was always fighting for the top. So when I was P21 or P18, I learned to fight. And everything I learned, I now put it into the first rounds. Of course, as a driver I don't like being at the back, but I learned a lot from it. It makes me a better driver, that's for sure. ».
Maverick Vinales: “ starting from the back is a mental learning process«
The pilot of 27 years explains his progression as follows: “ I found the timing of overtaking maneuvers, even if I don't have room, it's important. And it's very important to have a fast bike on the straights. It makes your life easier. The Aprilia is very fast and we brake very hard », he analyzes with satisfaction.
« Starting from the back is a mental learning process », also mentions Maverick Vinales on Motorsport-total. “ In the past, I might not have been able to take the first corner and think, 'Okay, now I'm going to pull to the outside, then to the inside, then this way.' I used to start in the top 3, and you round the corner and that's it. Now I watch a lot of starts before a race and I'm like, 'Okay, I'm going to drive like this to overtake.' It's a process you go through with these departures ».
Maverick Vinales has competed in 16 MotoGP races on the Aprilia RS-GP so far. During this period, he collected 73 points. In addition to his third place at Assen 2022, he finished in the top 10 six times in those 16 events. For the last part of the season, he has already stated that he will do everything possible to help his teammate, and also friend, Aleix Espargaró in the conquest of the world title. The return of MotoGP will take place at Silverstone at the beginning of August, a track where Aleix Espargaró brought his employer's first podium in the RS-GP era.
