Maverick Vinales: "Forget this track", "I have faith in the bike"
Maverick Vinales insists British MotoGP weekend doesn’t reflect KTM’s true performance: “We need to forget this track”.
Tech3 KTM’s Maverick Vinales urged his team to “forget” Silverstone after enduring a difficult British MotoGP weekend that saw him qualify a lowly 18th and finish both races outside the top ten.
In podium contention during the previous three rounds, the Spaniard faced a weekend marred by technical issues and grip struggles.
“This weekend, to be honest, I didn't change too much [on the bike] because I have faith in the bike [set-up] we have,” Vinales said.
“But I had a technical issue on Friday, then I was in Q1, and if you start 18th, it’s hard.
“I had the rhythm to be fighting for the top five today, but starting at the back, I fought with everybody.
“I fought with Enea, with Raul, with Brad... So much that I lost 6-7 seconds in five laps. And that's where you lose the race.”
Although disappointed, Vinales focused on his strong performance at other circuits.
“I think this track is very particular, very unique and edge grip is not our strength,” he explained.
“So we need to forget this track and concentrate on Aragon because for sure this was not the real potential of the bike.
“In Le Mans and Jerez, we were quite fast. We need to try not to get very upset by this result and move on.”
Front tyre selection further complicated matters for Vinales.
“It was very hard to manage. I never liked this [medium] also with the Aprilia. But today it was the safest choice because of graining with the soft.
“Now, looking at the ones who chose the soft, it looks like it was the correct decision. But on paper, the medium was the correct one, so nothing to regret.”
Adding to the challenges was Silverstone's notoriously strong winds.
“I got many track limits [warnings] because I couldn't keep the bike on the track! The wind was huge,” he admitted.
With Aragon next on the calendar, Vinales emphasised the need for consistency and patience.
“We must be very clever otherwise, if we make a mistake [by changing the bike too much], that's a disaster.
“We need to build up step by step,” he concluded.
Pedro Acosta was the top KTM rider in sixth place, 7.1s from Aprilia race winner Marco Bezzecchi and 4.2s ahead of Vinales.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
