Maverick Vinales says Aprilia’s situation in MotoGP is getting “worse and worse” with every round after a disastrous showing in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Struggling with heavy degradation on his RS-GP’s medium tyres, Americas GP winner Vinales slid from eighth on the grid to a measly 13th place, his worst result of the 2024 season.
His team-mate Aleix Espargaro dropped from pole position to finish sixth in Britain, almost 10 seconds down on race winner Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati.
Aprilia’s poor showing last weekend was made to look worse by the fact Espargaro had won the race exactly 12 months ago, while the factory-run RS-GPs had also looked rapid in the early part of the year.
The decline in Aprilia’s form in recent races is a matter of concern for Vinales, who urged the Noale-based marque to find a solution to reverse its fortunes in MotoGP.
“It’s difficult to accept the result honestly, it’s not what we are looking for,” said the Spaniard, who is joining KTM squad Tech3 next season along with Bastianini.
“We need to understand that there is something missing because the degradation of the rear tyres is not even normal, so we must understand why in the last four races we haven’t been at the level we need to be in.
“The tyre after six laps was completely gone, I passed from 1m59s to 2m01s. So we need to understand what is causing this tyre consumption because I never pass the speed limit in all the race trying to control [the pace].
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“It’s true that in the sprint sometimes I was able to fight, but as soon as we put the medium tyre on [in the race], we were really just trying to cruise and [we were] not really really strong.
“So it’s important for the factory to try to stop a little bit and think how we can reverse this situation because it’s getting worse and worse. We need to see how to get up again.”
Ducati swept the top five positions in Sunday’s race, as it extended its advantage over its rivals in MotoGP. Espargaro and Tech3’s Pedro Acosta were the only non-Ducati riders to finish inside the top 10 in the British GP, highlighting just how far ahead the Borgo Panigale marque is at present.
However, Vinales believes the result is more an indicator of Aprilia moving backwards in the pecking order rather than Ducati making a big leap with its Desmosedici bikes, as he highlighted…
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