MotoGP | Vinales happy: “On the podium even though I ran in defence”

Maverick Vinales was the silent protagonist of the Le Mans Sprint. Perhaps his performance may not have been the most eye-catching of the lot, but the rider from Roses managed to lead his Aprilia to the lowest step of the podium. A result also favored by some other people’s misadventures, such as Marco Bezzecchi’s fall or the double long lap penalty served by his teammate Aleix Espargaro for an early start.

On the other hand, however, it is equally true that things did not go exactly as the Spaniard would have hoped, who had some difficulties related to the overheating of the rear tire. Having been a defensive race, third place, just four seconds behind winner Jorge Martin, is certainly a result that allows him to look ahead with optimism.

“The feeling wasn’t fantastic, but it was good enough, like this morning. I was expecting a little more in terms of pace, but I had a problem with the rear tire, because it got too hot and therefore I couldn’t enter the corners well. As a result I wasn’t accelerating well, so we will definitely have to work in the garage. But I’m happy because on a day in which we struggled a bit and I had to drive a bit in defense, I managed to stay on the podium, so I’m happy”, he said. said Vinales to the microphones of Sky Sport MotoGP.

Previously, Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola reported that Maverick was having difficulty especially stopping his RS-GP in right-hand corners. Which was also confirmed by the person concerned, who went into a little more detail in the usual interviews.

“It’s very simple: the tire heated up especially on the right side and that’s something I paid for when I went in. I went in sideways and wasn’t able to take advantage of the grip when I was leaning. In practice, I wasn’t able to be fast on what that’s usually Aprilia’s strong point. The times were decent, but not as good as they could have been. Now we have to understand how to resolve this situation, but also motivate ourselves because despite the problem we were not far from the best to go with Martin.”

Tire management is usually one of Vinales’ strong points, so tomorrow we could expect a step from him. The Aprilia rider, however, fears that it will be very difficult to compete with the Ducatis, which do not seem to suffer from the decline in soft, even at distance.

“I don’t know, because today the Ducatis showed incredible pace. I don’t know how they managed not to let the tire drop: I had Bastianini behind me who came up like a missile, so I don’t know if the second half of the race will be easy. But it’s clear that if the tire doesn’t heat up as much, you can ride a little differently and make it last longer. We have to believe in it, because my goal is to stay up front and win. It’s clear that we then have to put a lot of people together factors, but we will definitely try”, he concluded.