This Japanese Grand Prix was definitely not good for an Aprilia factory which apparently did not cope well with the journey beyond the oceans. There were too many imperfections, the culmination of a series of blunders having been Aleix Espargaró's electronic problem on the starting grid, for which only the team was responsible. As for Maverick Viñales, it was hardly more encouraging. The Top Gun was faced with unexpected rear grip issues, which led the team to analyze to understand what went wrong in terms of set-up.
Aleix Espargaró experienced disillusionment from the warm-up lap of the Japanese Grand Prix, which made him understand that “Eco” mapping to use as little fuel as possible in certain circumstances, had been activated. A configuration that does not allow the engine to exceed 4 rpm while maintaining the maximum speed at 000-100 km/h. For his part, his teammate Maverick Vinales experienced 24 rounds of disappointment. He thought he would play for victory but instead, he had the greatest difficulty finishing in seventh place, which was coveted by a fabio quartararo hardly better off than him with his Yamaha.
This Sunday at Motegi was therefore complicated for Aprilia. An obstacle course thus explained by Maverick Vinales : " a difficult race, I suffered from a lack of rear grip from the first lap. I had a lot of trouble stopping the bike and it was a fight, for a seventh place which is not a result to throw away, but I am convinced that the potential was higher.”
Maverick Vinales: “ it's difficult for me because my riding style doesn't suit the bike »
" We have done the most conservative choice in terms of tires, namely the medium compound, while in warm-up I had good sensations with the soft, and that was perhaps a mistake” he adds before completing: “the soft tire was still not an option because I was not sure enough about the tire”. The Spaniard adds: “ Sometimes it's difficult for me because my riding style doesn't suit the bike. Afterwards, I have to force the bike into the corner. We just need more time to improve, even though we showed the best we could in Japan ».
The Top Gun ends: “We must not forget that our growth process is always evolving. In these situations, the important thing is to bring home the best possible result and we did it ».
MotoGP Japan J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
