With an ambient temperature of over 32 degrees, but above all with a humidity close to 65%, the heat on the track at the Chang International Circuit was very high for the MotoGP riders, who in some cases had problems managing their bikes . An example is that of Maverick Vinales, who took the pit road prematurely and retired.
The weekend had started in an excellent way for the Aprilia rider, who was first or second in every test session. At least until the moment of truth: the qualifications. “It’s something that tends to happen to us, on Friday I reach the limit of the bike and that’s it”, explained the rider from Roses, visibly annoyed.
“In Q2 we had some problems with some parts that weren’t at their best and we weren’t able to bring out the full potential of the bike,” he added, explaining why he started ninth when his position was clearly the front row due to the speed he showed the rest of the weekend.
“When you start so far back on the grid, the Aprilia is a bit of a disaster. It was a weekend of ups and downs and we have to evaluate what happened, because I don’t like these weekends at all, they make me feel overwhelmed.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team, raising the visor of his helmet to be able to breathe
The reason for Maverick’s retirement with three laps to go, when he was in the last positions, was the heat.
“I couldn’t finish the race. There was an infernal heat coming from the bike and I did two or three laps in which I couldn’t even breathe. I decided to stop because there was no point in continuing”, he admitted, ruling out any technical problem on his RS-GP.
“No, no. It was about the heat coming off the bike: we need to improve this aspect, because otherwise I won’t be able to finish the race in Sepang,” he concluded.
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