Maverick Viñales has been the standout rider at the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas. So far, he has taken pole position with a new lap record at the Austin circuit and won the Sprint race with a comfortable margin. Miguel Oliveira, from the Trackhouse Racing satellite team, is keeping an eye on the performance of the Aprilia rider and believes that victory this Sunday is unlikely to escape him.
The Portuguese rider said he sees Viñales with something extra at the moment and a feeling that makes it very difficult for anyone to beat the Spaniard:
– It’s not just the data, it’s the way he’s riding with the bike, how he’s approaching the weekend, he’s really confident with the bike and it’s very likely that he will win the main race. He’s really the only one who has a little extra – watching him ride on the track, watching him on TV, everything seems effortless. When you reach that feeling, it’s very, very difficult for anyone to challenge you, unless he makes a mistake.
Although he considers the Aprilia RS-GP to be a competitive bike, Oliveira understands that Viñales is making the difference: ‘It’s true that the bike helps, but it’s him who is making the difference at the moment, not the bike. He’s riding to the best ability of the bike and you can see that on track when he took pole position, when he won the Sprint. You can see him doing everything right and I think it’s him who is making the difference. But we have a good bike, that’s also positive and we have to get there somehow‘.
