Maverick Vinales was left in a bullish mood for the upcoming European leg of the 2023 MotoGP season after recovering to fourth in the Americas Grand Prix.
The Aprilia pilot struggled mightily with his starts during the Americas event, the Spaniard dropping all the way to 18th in Saturday’s sprint race after starting seventh, while in Sunday’s GP he dropped as far back as 12th.
Vinales displayed blazing pace once the race got going though and managed to scythe his way back through the field to secure a final finishing position of fourth by the conclusion of the contest, having lapped comparatively to the leading riders in the process.
The Spaniard’s impressive charge back through the pack left him confident of a strong run throughout the European segment of the term, where he feels he “can make a difference” and mount a potential title attack.
“The rhythm all weekend was very fast, I was able to ride on nearly-lap record pace until the final two laps which is a fantastic sign,” explained Vinales.
“I can see clearly the potential we have, but we have to solve the starts and this is something we are working on with the team.
“The opening three races have been really good, really positive as we are fourth in the championship and only about 20 points off the back despite Argentina, which was not as great a result as we expected.
“The start of the year has been better than we anticipated which is amazing because we have the speed, and now we arrive at tracks where I know I can make the difference.”
The nine-time premier class race victor conceded that improving his recent ropey starting record will also be crucial to finally securing his maiden win for Aprilia, affirming that “the team needs to sort something” in this regard.
“We tried a standing start today and it wasn’t bad at all, but we are working hard and we will solve the issue, and as soon as we do we will be fighting for the victory,” continued Vinales.
“Coming from tenth or 11th to fourth is amazing, we had incredible speed and we need to continue and not give up.
“In terms of result today was really good and we are sorry, the races we are there and fighting in the top four so this is what we need to achieve every race.
“Honestly I have no idea (why poor starts are common), the team has to sort something, I also need to be precise ion the brake in order to win some places, and I’ll train hard over the next week to be in as good physical condition as I can.”
