Maverick Viñales believes he had the pace to challenge for the podium if he hadn't started from the third row due to a mistake in Q2.
Maverick Vinales has realised a promising start to the Grand Prix in Aragon, finishing third in Practice yesterday and then fourth in FP2 this morning. Qualifying automatically for Q2, his results seemed to bode well for qualifying, but the Tech3 driver believes he did not make the right tire choice and had to settle for eighth position.
"I don't think we made the right tyre choice in qualifying, which was a bit difficult for me to accept because I felt I had more up my sleeve than eighth place.", did he declare.
Considering a start from the first two rows obligatory to be able to fight for the podium, he fought at the beginning of the sprint race to not be boxed in, and managed not to fall down the standings, although he lost a place, regained the following lap with the fall of Joan Mir. He moved up to seventh position on the sixth lap of the race, after contact with Fabio Quartararo which saw the Frenchman drop down the standings.
Casa Particular in Viñales maintained his position until the finish line, but was not fully satisfied when it came time to debrief his race, certain of having the pace to be more at the front. "I'm quite happy with the feeling I have with the bike, more than the result of the sprint race! Starting from the third row is not ideal because you have to fight a lot with the others, and I lost a lot of time at the start.", did he declare.
"I think we could have fought for the podium today, but whatever happens, it all comes down to our grid position. We know we have room for improvement. I feel good and confident for tomorrow's race. The bike is working well, so we're not going to change anything, just the tires, because I hope the medium will give us more traction and consistency."
Results of the sprint race of the Grand Prix of Aragon :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
