MotoGP | Vinales: “Nightmare first half, but we have a lot of potential”

After eight races of the 2022 season, Aprilia had achieved a victory and four other podiums thanks to Aleix Espargaro.

At the same point this year, Aprilia have just two podiums to their credit, with Vinales second in the inaugural GP in Portugal and with Espargaro inheriting third place in the Dutch GP following a track limits penalty inflicted on Brad Binder.

Vinales sits 12th in the World Championship with 56 points, after crashing in the Dutch GP, while an engine problem caused him problems in France, Italy and Germany.

Despite this, Vinales is convinced that he and Aprilia have enough pace to fight at the front of the pack when everything is sorted out, but points out that he needs to improve his performance in qualifying, as he has only started from the front twice so far. two rows.

“I hope that in the second part of the season we will have the wind with us, because we are always at the mercy of it,” said Vinales. “It’s a nightmare, but we have recovered well. We are strong, mentally we are very strong.”

“We have a lot of potential. At Le Mans, there was a problem, at Jerez we broke down, at Austin the yellow flags hindered me in qualifying.”

“It could happen. This is not in our hands, but in our hands there is the possibility of making a bike that is better on one lap and this is what we will try to do.”

When asked if Aprilia has what it takes to try and challenge Ducati, which won 13 times in the first part of the season between GPs and Sprints, Vinales added: “Calm down a bit”.

“When we get the most out of our bike, we are able to fight up front. We have to stay calm, with our feet on the ground, Assen is a special track, then we’ll get to Silverstone.”

“We have to face the situation day by day, getting the most out of it, understanding what we have to do in qualifying with the tyres, because I think we are still far from our best, and keep calm and keep it simple.”