MotoGP | Vinales: “We shouldn’t suffer from the heat in Mandalika”

The Indonesian Grand Prix opens the Asian trip and the most demanding period of the season could not have started on the best track for Maverick Vinales, who last year took a fourth place in the Sprint and a second position in the Sunday race just three tenths behind winner Pecco Bagnaia. On that occasion, the Aprilia rider showed up on the podium wearing a Batman mask.

What will happen this year? The goal is, first of all, to repeat last year’s feat. It won’t be easy, seeing how much the Ducatis are making the difference by monopolizing the podiums and the top positions in general. However, the rider from Roses wants to think positively, strong from the excellent results of 2023: “It’s always nice to come here. This year the bike is very different, so we’ll have to understand how it goes. We are motivated and confident seeing the results of Misano. We found our speed again and we improved, so we are optimistic for this weekend”.

“Indonesia is one of the best tracks for us to get a good result,” Vinales continued, speaking to the media on the eve of the Indonesian Grand Prix. “We have to take advantage of this situation. I come here with a lot of motivation, but at the moment I don’t expect anything. I think Mandalika will balance the values ​​a bit, so we’ll see. Do I want to win? That’s obvious, otherwise I wouldn’t have traveled 16 hours on a plane to come here (laughs, ed.)”.

Winning, however, will not be an easy feat, considering the hegemony of the Desmosedici. The steps forward that the “Reds” have made during the weekend are impressive and represent the worry of their rivals, who are working to get closer: “We can see how much Ducati improves from Saturday to Sunday and sometimes it is difficult to predict. On many tracks, if you take Friday you see yourself in the battle for the victory. But then you get to Sunday and they have gained 3 tenths”.

“It’s quite difficult to understand if it’s something technical or if the bike is so much stronger that it’s consistent on every track. At the beginning of the year, Acosta and I were rivals, but now the situation has changed and they are much more consistent. We need to understand how they manage to be consistent on every track and in every condition. It’s a question that the whole paddock is asking,” says the standard-bearer of the Noale manufacturer.

A big question mark is the heat and Aprilia, which is a pioneer in aerodynamic technology and innovation, is suffering in particular with the high temperatures that “burn” the riders. However, the Spaniard maintains that, despite the great heat of Mandalika, the characteristics of the track can help mitigate the heat that riders have complained about in the past when riding the RS-GP.

“On this track the temperature is never too demanding on the bike, because we are always leaning,” explains Vinales. “So you don’t spend most of the time on top of the bike like in Thailand, where there is a long straight. Here there are none, so we probably won’t suffer the temperatures and that’s a good thing.”