Maverick Vinales: ‘In a bad weekend, these points were really important’

Maverick Vinales of Aprilia was the best rider who wasn’t a Ducati in both the qualification and the race of the French MotoGP.

Even though the COTA winner estimated the victory deficit at four seconds in both the half- and full-length races, he was dismayed to fall from third place in the Sprint to fifth in the grand prix.

After a fright at turn one, Vinales straight lined the chicane and dropped to fifth, making the grand prix not go well at all.

Vinales said, “I braked to [dis]engage all the devices, but the bike shook so much that I was unable to stay on the track.” “Maybe I gave up too much because I went from second to fifth when I re-entered. But that was okay because I made a mistake. Following

Pedro Acosta passed him, fell, and Vinales passed teammate Aleix Espargaro to take fourth place.

Despite Vinales’ inability to hold off Marc Marquez throughout the middle stages, the RS-GP rider was able to reclaim fourth place thanks to a lengthy lap by Fabio di Giannantonio. However, on the penultimate lap, a recuperating Enea Bastianini overtook him for that position.

“We fought Marc and Di Giannantonio, and I thought I could advance to the front guys.” Although it appeared that we were narrowing the gap, on lap 17 [of 27], I began to have a lot of trouble with the rear tire and changed my strategy, according to Vinales.

Observing that I had ample space behind, I endeavored to avoid any errors. Thus, during a rough weekend, they were Vinales, who is only 10 points behind second-place rider Francesco Bagnaia in the world championship standings, was the only rider outside the Ducati brand to place in the top seven.

But what more does he need to challenge the Ducatis in the lead once more?

“We need to [think] conservatively because maybe the Ducati has improved a lot and they might also be strong in this track,” Vinales said. “Obviously, we go to Montmelo and the expectations will be very high.”

However, we must determine how to proceed with the remaining tracks.

However, we must investigate how to make this following step for the remaining tracks.

Some songs will work better than others. I had high hopes for this weekend, but the men warned me that it might not be the best for the bike, and they turned out to be correct.

“Nevertheless, I made an effort to ride as well as I could, and I’m glad that I was the first one [after the top four Ducatis].”

Espargaro lost time in skirmishes with Franco Morbidelli and Enea Bastianini on Sunday, ultimately finishing ninth.