Mixed feelings for Aprilia MotoGP duo after qualifying hampers Emilia Romagna GP

After a disastrous pair of Grands Prix for Aprilia in Aragon and San Marino, the Emilia-Romagna round of the MotoGP World Championship at least left room for optimism.

A sixth place for Maverick Vinales came along with some strong mid-race pace, but ultimately his hopes of a top-five finish were dashed by a poor qualifying performance that saw him start down in eighth place.

"The feeling was good, to be honest,” Vinales told MotoGP.com after the second Misano race, “we improved quite a lot from [the San Marino Grand Prix].

“This is something very positive. It’s true that we show a great pace in the middle of the race with 1:31-low, but we know that we need to start at the front, otherwise it’s very difficult with our bike to compete.

“But I keep building it, it will arrive. So, we did a good step forward here in Misano, and we will try to carry on this speed for the next Grands Prix.”

Aleix Espargaro was less positive than his factory Aprilia teammate, Vinales, but at least found some optimism in Aprilia’s Emilia-Romagna performance versus that of the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks previously at the same Misano venue.

“I’m not happy, but we have some progress from [the San Marino Grand Prix],” Espargaro said.

“The pace, especially in the first part of the race, was not that bad, and, at the end, we know that here we are not at the level of our rivals, but eighth place is not that bad.

“Also, the gap with the podium is not the one that we were expecting, but we reduced it a little bit from [the San Marino Grand Prix].

“[I’m] trying to be positive, and looking forward to the next GP.”