Maverick Vinales went to Le Mans with high expectations, on a circuit where he managed to win in the 2017 season. After free practice, his pace seemed competitive enough to win. But the truth is that he leaves the French GP empty-handed, at least in terms of fighting for victory.
The Aprilia rider managed to take third place in the Sprint, while things got even more complicated in Sunday’s long race, where, after a conservative start, he had to fight with tire wear to eventually recover a fifth position , behind Enea Bastianini.
After the race, the Roses rider explained that in the first laps, when he was ahead of Marc Marquez, he wasn’t losing time due to lack of pace, but was trying to manage the tyres. And he did well, because after the 17th lap of the 27 scheduled, his tires went into crisis. So much so that, if he hadn’t followed his strategy, he wouldn’t have crossed the finish line, in his words.
“I didn’t lose much at the start of the race. I made a more conservative start, because I wanted to get to the end of the race with the tires still good. If I had made an explosive start, I wouldn’t have made it”, began Vinales. “Ten laps and then I would have gone down, down, down and down. I tried to do a fairly solid race, consolidate the position and maintain it as much as possible. as long as possible.”
“There were moments of the race where it seemed that Marc and I were very close to Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, but on lap 17 my tire went into trouble. I could only pray that I wouldn’t be filmed from behind. Enea Bastianini had a different pace (she then passed him), but I had a margin behind. Now we have to analyze and improve. Here we probably expected more, but today they were on another level. We must continue to improve, believe and work,” he explained.
The reason for the drop was the rear tyre. An episode that closed a complex weekend for the Noale manufacturer driver, who reiterated that he must continue to grow: “In the first 10 laps, which is what I did in practice, I was doing quite well, I must say. It wasn’t incredible, but I was doing well, I had control and a good position to attack. But from lap 17 onwards I no longer had the rear tyre, especially when braking. I was sliding too much, I made a lot of mistakes at turn 8, where Marc passed me. I was losing a lot. But in the end I’m the first non-Ducati. I tried to give them a fight, but we have to grow. It’s still a year of growth.”
“In a weekend where we didn’t have the best sensations since Friday, I achieved a podium in the Sprint and a fifth place. This is what we’re looking for, this is the solidity you have to have in a championship, attacking when you have the chance and defending when you don’t. And in a weekend in which I defended myself in almost all laps, we took excellent points”, she concluded, wanting to take a positive point from the fifth round of the season.
#MotoGP #Vinales #year #growth #Aprilia
