Carlo Pernat points out a gap in Aprilia despite it being ‘the one that made the biggest leap’.

Aprilia performed well at the MotoGP Portuguese GP. Maverick Viñales won the Sprint race and fought for a podium finish in the main race almost until the end despite gearbox issues – which ultimately led to his retirement after running in second place for most of the race.

The pilots’ manager Carlo Pernat believes that the Noale manufacturer has made the greatest progress, as he told GPOne.com: ‘I have to tell the truth: to be very honest, in my opinion the one that made the biggest leap was Aprilia. The story of Maverick Viñales competing with a damaged gearbox was sensational‘.

However, the Italian believes that something is missing from Aprilia, citing the events in Portimão as an example: ‘Perhaps Aprilia lacks a bit of team. In my opinion, the bike has taken a good step forward. They need to organize themselves a bit more with the people because these things shouldn’t happen‘.

Pernat added: ‘These things happen, but… in my opinion, the team is missing that small step forward, because technically the bike is good. It’s difficult to overtake it, as Enea [Bastianini] also said. He explained to me that in acceleration Maverick Viñales had a bit more‘.