In Qatar, Maverick Vinales had a weekend... anecdotal, at best. Eclipsed by his teammate in the two races as well as in qualifying, he was never able to unlock the performance necessary to get back into the match. Even during the Sunday round, he was unable to break away from his teammate while the latter was suffering from an obvious tire problem. Worse still, Pedro Acosta, while sliding down the rankings, came between him and Aleix Espargaro, resulting in a 10th place. However, Maverick Vinales does not lose hope, because this is only the beginning.
Despite an overall standard performance for him, “Top Gun” is satisfied with one point; progress over the weekend. “The feeling has improved considerably compared to yesterday. However, we need to understand what points need to be improved, these are still small details, but we still need to identify the right direction”. Perhaps it is a shame to think about the direction to follow when Ducati seems well in place. Aleix Espargaro showed on Saturday that there was something to play for even against the best MotoGP in the world.
Photo: Michelin Motorsport
Like others, Maverick Vinales suffered from his tire wear. This is a problem identified on the Aprilia, which he does not fail to highlight once again. « It was an interesting weekend which still allowed us to gather important information. Today I raced behind different riders and different bikes, which allowed me to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Certainly, one of the points to improve is the management of wear on the front tire, which at the moment does not allow me to be as fast as I would like. ». There is still hope therefore, but we must not delay, especially to catch up with KTM which seems very dangerous with Brad Binder as an identified threat, certainly, but Pedro Acosta who should regularly climb into the group of head.
Portimao is a track that Maverick does quite well; he finished the race in second place last year, and can hope for better sensations than in Qatar.
Do you think Maverick Vinales will be able to get back on his teammate Aleix Espargaro in the next Grand Prix? Tell us in the comments!
2023 Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix result:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
