Vinales 'not setting goals' for second Aprilia race

Maverick Vinales heads for his second event as an Aprilia MotoGP rider, team-mate Aleix Espargaro 'competitive in any conditions', Lorenzo Savadori's wild-card cancelled.

Peter McLaren

15 Sep 2021

Maverick Vinales, Aragon MotoGP, 11 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

Maverick Vinales is not setting any goals, at least in public, for his second MotoGP race weekend as an Aprilia rider, at Misano this weekend.

The former factory Yamaha star finished in 18th place, 27s from race winner Francesco Bagnaia and 18s behind new team-mate Aleix Espargaro on his RS-GP race debut at Aragon.

All well as the experience gained last weekend, Vinales has the added benefit of an earlier two-day test at the Misano circuit, but says he will be 'satisfied' if he can make a step forward with his feeling this weekend.

Having never previously raced a V4 engine, the 26-year-old is still adapting to the change in braking and corner-speed characteristics compared to the M1.

"Even though the situation is different since I’ve already tested here, we’ll approach Misano the same way we did Aragón," said Vinales, who set a 1m 32.4s at the private test, matching his best race lap set on the way to victory at Misano for Yamaha last season.

"The fundamental thing for us is to rack up miles and experience. The process of adapting to the Aprilia is going well, but there are obviously still many aspects where we can and must improve.

"Precisely for this reason, I am not setting any goals. I’ll be satisfied if I’ve made a step forward in my feeling with the RS-GP by the end of the weekend."

Meanwhile, Espargaro will be targeting a podium challenge in Aprilia's home race after following up his landmark Silverstone third with fourth position at Aragon.

"We’ll be on the track to pick up where we left off - competitive in any conditions," Espargaro said. "We are in a positive moment. The RS-GP is growing consistently and we need to stay focused from here until the end of the season."

It had been planned that rookie Lorenzo Savadori, replace by Vinales, would be back on track this weekend as a wild-card.

However, the Italian rider has not yet fully recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in Austria and will now save his energy for the following two-day official test.