Maverick Vinales: “We need to understand how to load the front tyre”
“The Ducatis can make a stoppie really easy, going to the brakes... We need to understand how to load the front tyre because I think that is the key.”
Just 13th in the Saturday Sprint, Maverick Vinales turned the tables on team-mate Aleix Espargaro to finish as the top Aprilia rider in the Sunday Austrian MotoGP.
But seventh place, behind five Ducatis and a KTM, underlined the need for better braking performance on the RS-GP.
Specifically, Vinales feels he is losing out under straight-line braking and that the Aprilia’s rear downforce could be a factor.
The Spaniard believes the Ducati is loading the front tyre much more aggressively, stoppie style, when its riders hit the brakes.
“In this kind of track, where brakes are everything, we are struggling a little bit,” Vinales said.
“We have some areas where we were very strong and we know we need to improve the braking areas, especially with the bike straight.”
He added: “I think it depends on how you load the front tyre, so probably still we are not loading in a correct way.
“If you can see Ducatis, they are all the time really loose on the rear. So they can make a stoppie really easy, going to the brakes.
“And it looks like our bike, when you brake, the downforce is pushing all the time to the ground, not doing the transfer [to the front]. So we are trying to understand if that is the problem.
“[In warm-up] I was trying to really make the bike transfer everything to the front and lift the rear and it was impossible. So now we need to understand how to load the front tyre because I think that is the key.”
Fortunately for Aprilia, this weekend’s Aragon round will be less critical for straight-line braking. Vinales said the priority is to understand grip levels on the new surface.
“Aragon is a very unique track where understanding the level of grip will be crucial,” he explained. “With the new asphalt we will have to assess the conditions carefully.
“I think this is a track where we can do very well. We are highly motivated and will give 100%.”
Team-mate Espargaro has proven the RS-GP’s Aragon potential in the past, joining Ducati riders Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia on the podium at the most recent 2022 event.
Retiring at the end of this season, Espargaro is looking to go out on a high at one of his favourite tracks.
“It's a track I really like and where I took my first MotoGP podium. This year there's new asphalt, so it will be interesting to discover the new conditions,” Espargaro said.
“The prospects are good because the last time we raced here, we finished on the podium with Aprilia. I'm looking forward to getting on the track and tackling the last Aragón GP of my career.”
