MotoGP | Vinales in tears: “I suffered a lot to get here”

Maverick Vinales struggled to contain his emotion after the beautiful victory achieved in the Grand Prix of the Americas. A success that will end up in the MotoGP record books, because the Spaniard became the first in the four-stroke motorcycle era to win with three different brands. He followed up his triumphs with Suzuki and Yamaha with today's triumph on the Aprilia.

A victory that materializes the great work done together with the Noale manufacturer in recent weeks, with the two Sprints won between Portimao and Austin, but which above all repays the suffering experienced in recent years, when his career seemed to have come to an abrupt stop after the break with Yamaha and he was struggling to get back on track with Aprilia. Something that Maverick underlined through tears in a first interview granted to the Spanish DAZN.

“I have no words. It was very hard to get here, we suffered a lot, my family knows it well, all the effort I put in was rewarded in the end. I'm very happy, I really want to hug my wife and my girls who are suffering with me”, said Vinales, who today took his tenth success in the premier class. A victory that was missing from Qatar 2021.

“In Austria in 2021 I didn't know whether to stop and not run anymore, and now I'm at the top, all this teaches me only one thing, that you must never give up and you must always keep fighting. This was a historic feat and I want to thank everyone who gave me strength, there were times when I wanted to throw in the towel, but I had enough support to keep believing and the strength to get up every morning,” he added.

Once he reached the microphones of Sky Sport MotoGP, he went on to comment on his great race, which forced him to make a sensational comeback, given that on the first lap he found himself in 11th place after a bad start and a contact with Pecco Bagnaia at the first curve.

“It's the best race I've done in the World Championship, together with my first victory in 125 at Silverstone, so I will carry it in my heart. I went through some difficult moments, in which I could only dream of a day like this. Now, however, I have this dream we are living.”

The feeling, however, is that today the feeling with his RS-GP was truly at the limits of perfection: “I felt it as good as in Portimao, except that in Portugal I had the problem with the gearbox which took two tenths off me per lap on the straight. Despite this, I was able to battle with Martin until the end, this is what I'm looking for, because I know that with this balance I can do extraordinary things. I felt so good throughout the weekend that I already want to get back on the bike. Now we have to celebrate, because we deserve it, but closing the circle like this was incredible.”

One of the keys to his victory was also the choice of the medium tire on the rear, which allowed him to come out at a distance, overtaking and separating those who instead had the soft: “I was very convinced of the medium because in the Warm-Up I had done 2 '02″3 without pushing. Then when I saw that the others were going with the soft we doubted we had made a mistake, but it went well.”

At the end, however, he also had to manage it, paying attention to the return of Pedro Acosta, who like him had the average: “When I did the fastest lap I opened a fairly big gap, but then I tried to control it because I was heating up the tire too much. tire. Pedro immediately took advantage of this to get closer, but after a cool down lap I did another 2'02″5, so then I was able to manage the rear tire well, because it was starting to slide and I didn't want to make mistakes”.

Now inevitably there is a bit of regret for the gearbox failure which deprived him of a podium in Portimao, because with those extra points he would have been very close to the top of the World Championship: “It was a shame Portimao, because now I would have been there with Martin in the standings. But now we only have to look at ourselves, continue like this and always do 100%. I always tell the team that we can only achieve these results if we get 100% out of the bike everyone is convinced and I am very happy with the work that the whole team has done.”

Returning then to more emotional aspects, he underlined the importance of his relationship with the technical chief Manuel Cazeaux: “For me he is a key figure in our team, even if we work a lot together with all the guys. You know well that with Manuel c 'It's a special relationship, just one look is enough for us to understand each other: I only have that connection with my wife in the whole universe.”