Vinales (3rd) claims: “I took it easy” / MotoGP

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Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) finished Friday's MotoGP qualifying in third place. He feels comfortable in Aragon, but also knows where he can improve.

Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales set the third fastest time in MotoGP qualifying at MotorLand Aragon. Like many other riders, the Spaniard struggled in the first free practice session on Friday morning. “I had two or three rear wheel slides in the morning, which were very strange. We're still trying to understand it. I was riding with the medium rear tire – maybe it wasn't hot enough for this tire.”

During the afternoon qualifying session, things went much better with the soft rear tyre. “The feeling with the soft tyre is not bad, although the feeling on the track in general is strange and very different. For example, you can crash on the out lap, but when you attack and accelerate, you have a lot of grip – that's very strange. But the soft tyre is very good for us – when braking and when turning.”

In the last minutes of the training session, “Top Gun”, like everyone else, picked up the pace. In the end, he finished in third place – 0.316 seconds behind Marc Marquez, who set a track record. Vinales could have done better, especially in the last sector. “I had a lot of vibrations in the last sector, so I took it a bit easier because I didn't want to go over the limit,” said Vinales. “I was then surprised at how fast my lap time was. Let's see if I can attack more in the last sector tomorrow. But it was easy for me to do a fast lap today. It was fun to ride the bike, it seems to be working well here.”

The fact that the Aprilia is in good harmony with the track in Aragon is confirmed by the fact that all four Aprilia riders were in the top ten and will therefore compete in Q2 on Saturday. “That obviously helps us – Miguel Oliveira was strong in the fourth sector. We have his data and can see how we can improve there. “If I manage that, I might be on the front row,” said the 29-year-old happily.

Results MotoGP Aragon, qualifying (30 August):

1. Marc Márquez (E), Ducati, 1:45.801 min
2. Aleix Espargaró (E), Aprilia, +0.272 sec
3. Maverick Vinales (E), Aprilia, +0.316
4. Jorge Martín (E), Ducati, +0.578
5. Alex Márquez (E), Ducati, +0.605
6. Francesco Bagnaia (I), Ducati, +0.790
7. Franco Morbidelli (I), Ducati, +0.904
8. Johann Zarco (F), Honda, +0.931
9. Raúl Fernández (E), Aprilia, +1,039
10. Miguel Oliveira (P), Aprilia, +1,054
11. Brad Binder (ZA), KTM, +1,083
12. Pedro Acosta (E), KTM, +1,131
13. Fabio Di Giannantonio (I), Ducati, +1,145
14. Marco Bezzecchi (I), Ducati, +1,228
15. Enea Bastianini (I), Ducati, +1,230
16. Jack Miller (AUS), KTM, +1.468
17. Luca Marini (I), Honda, +1,479
18. Augusto Fernandez (E), KTM, +1,501
19. Alex Rins (E), Yamaha, +1,599
20. Fabio Quartararo (F), Yamaha, +1,600
21. Joan Mir (E), Honda, +2.042
22. Takaaki Nakagami (J), Honda, +2,640

Results MotoGP Aragon, FP1 (30 August):

1. Marc Márquez (E), Ducati, 1:48.289 mins
2. Jorge Martín (E), Ducati, +0.483 sec
3. Pedro Acosta (E), KTM, +0.613
4. Brad Binder (ZA), KTM, +0.663
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (I), Ducati, +0.665
6. Alex Márquez (E), Ducati, +0.755
7. Miguel Oliveira (P), Aprilia, +0.797
8. Jack Miller (AUS), KTM, +0.826
9. Enea Bastianini (I), Ducati, +0.931
10. Franco Morbidelli (I), Ducati, +0.972
11. Marco Bezzecchi (I), Ducati, +1,082
12. Maverick Viñales (E), Aprilia, +1,160
13. Joan Mir (E), Honda, +1.276
14. Alex Rins (E), Yamaha, +1,359
15. Takaaki Nakagami (J), Honda, +1,366
16. Augusto Fernandez (E), KTM, +1,380
17. Johann Zarco (F), Honda, +1.477
18. Fabio Quartararo (F), Yamaha, +1,722
19. Luca Marini (I), Honda, +1,756
20. Raúl Fernández (E), Aprilia, +1,844
21. Francesco Bagnaia (I), Ducati, +1,927
22. Aleix Espargaró (E), Aprilia, +3,174

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