After not hiding his frustration with the performance of the Aprilia RS-GP in Buriram, Maverick Viñales was incredulous about the ‘zero grip’ he has had on the track, and that regardless of what he does, the performance of this does not seem to improve.
Proof of his difficulties is the final position in today’s Sprint where he was 20th: ‘I mean, we’re trying to understand. It’s also quite difficult for the team. Last year it was quite different because the grip wasn’t bad. You come this year and you have zero grip’.
Apparently resigned, Viñales explained that he is trying everything… but without success: ‘There’s not much to do on the bike. You have the same bike as the beginning of the year, we tried to shorten, lengthen, swingarm, wheels, front, rear – it doesn’t change much. I think it’s the bike. It’s not working’.
With the technical difficulties in Thailand, Viñales and his team now face an additional challenge, not only to adjust the bike to the track conditions, but also to ensure a safe and competitive performance.