Sunday for Maverick Vinales and Aprilia ended in a very disappointing way. Unfortunately, a technical failure robbed the Spanish driver of a podium that was now in his hands in today’s race in Portimao. After the victory in the sprint race, it would have been very positive to finish among the first. He remained in second place behind Jorge Martin for a long time, then in the final there was an unexpected KO.
MotoGP Portimao, Vinales retirement: Rivola speaks
At the end of the race, Massimo Rivola’s statements arrived on Sky Sport MotoGP to comment on what happened: “It looks like the gearbox is broken. This is what can be seen from the data and we are now dismantling the gearbox to check, but we are quite sure that this is what it is. The interesting and sad thing is that he already had problems several laps before. Maverick didn’t have a splendid race, more so. On paper he could have won. Two grand prix in a row where we have a package to win with a different driver and then we get nothing. Here even more We need to examine our consciences, because it is not acceptable seeing a driver drive so well and then not maximizing the performance. Seeing the checkered flag is the first rule of racing“.
The CEO of Aprilia Racing is very sorry for Vinales’ retirement, although the fact remains that the rider and the RS-GP had a high level of competitiveness this weekend: “Huge disappointment. Wanting to look at the glass half full we can mention the performance of the bike and that of Maverick, who was riding even better today than yesterday. We were really good and this gives us hope for the future. The team has understood the key to making him go fast, we have many races ahead and he will have the chance to demonstrate his value“.
Rivola also reassured everyone about the conditions of the former Suzuki and Yamaha rider, who was also involved in a fall: “We saw that he only has a graze and a bump, he is physically fine. After the effort in the tests and in the first grand prix, here we have found how to put it right and we hope to find him at the front again next time“.
Maverick’s version
Subsequently, Vinales himself also spoke on Sky Sport MotoGP and told everything: “From the first laps I couldn’t get into sixth gear, then it got worse and worse and in the end it broke. We know we need to improve reliability, it’s important. However we had a great weekend, even with the problems I had a good pace. Without it I would have been even stronger. I can’t do anything about it, they have to intervene in Noale“.
Obviously, the rider hopes that Aprilia improves for the future, but at the same time he is happy to have finally been strong: “If we have the right balance, we can perform like this. I didn’t go in a straight line. Without any problems I would have played it with Martin. However, I want to motivate everyone in Aprilia, we must move forward with our heads held high“.
Photo: MotoGP
