Fifth in the main race on Sunday in France, Maverick Viñales had some problems with tire wear and couldn’t attack more during the race. There was a moment when he believed he could have caught up with the front runners but it wasn’t possible, however he is sure that this is the kind of GP that will make him improve.
The Aprilia rider recalled a moment in the race where he had some interesting battles, but couldn’t do more due to tire conditions: ‘I defended the position because I really believed I had much more at the time. Then, with DiGia [Fabio Di Giannantonio], we closed the gap. I passed him, made a mistake and Marc [Márquez] passed me on the inside, but then he was there the whole time. And when we passed DiGia, I really believed we had the pace to catch those in front. In fact, I saw them close and from one lap to the next, seven tenths slower. I haven’t been able to do much more. My tire dropped a lot’.
Viñales’ problems didn’t stop there, with him also recalling the start of the race where he also had some issues, perhaps being… too generous: ‘The start was good, when I turned off the holeshot device I was thrown off the bike and went straight. Then I tried to reenter. Maybe I was too kind. It seemed too much to me because I also let DiGia pass, but it is what it is’.
He tried to do something, but couldn’t and, overall, sees this GP in Le Mans as positive and an important step in his journey to become an even better rider.
– I tried to stop him from the outside, with force, to see if he could pass in front of me. Oh well. Overall, I think it was a very good weekend. We took advantage of the opportunities and will continue to grow. These weekends help us grow, so it is necessary to be positive and with a very open mind to know that another circuit could be a weekend like this and react earlier to have a better series.
