Test offered ‘clarity’ to Aprilia ahead of MotoGP Misano repeat
Aprilia riders found point to improve for second Misano round
Maverick Vinales says “a number of things became clear” to Aprilia following the recent Misano MotoGP test ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Aprilia has endured a torrid few rounds in MotoGP as the performance of its RS-GP has fallen away compared to its race-winning form earlier in the season.
Struggling to 10th with Aleix Espargaro on the low-grip surface at Aragon, the move to a higher-grip Misano did nothing to boost Aprilia’s fortunes - with it scoring just five points between all four of its riders.
But the post-San Marino GP test allowed Aprilia to pinpoint several issues with its bike - a lack of consistency with the RS-GP’s engine braking being its biggest problem.
“We are starting a new race weekend in Misano, and I think it’s a great opportunity for improvement,” Vinales said ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP.
“During the first race and the test, a number of things became clear to us, but now it is up to us to raise the bar.
“We must give our utmost in every lap, every race and every session.
“We are focused on taking a step forward; it’s important to us to finish this weekend on a good note before the races in Asia.
“My mentality is that we must improve, avoid mistakes and keep fighting.”
He added: “To be honest, the test has been very interesting, trying to understand why we are very fast and in others we are struggling a little bit.
“Seems that we start to understand that the biggest issue is on brakes.
“So, we really need to readapt the engine braking, trying to be more consistent, because as soon as I started to brake well the lap time came very easy. This is something very positive.”
Aleix Espargaro echoed his team-mate’s sentiments, stating: “The first race in Misano did not go as we had hoped.
“Clearly, the long race was affected by the rain, but we were still not as fast as we wanted to be during the weekend.
“During the test, we understood which direction we needed to go in, so I hope we can improve.
“It is a tricky circuit for us, but we are ready to do our best and fight for the positions that count.”
