Maverick Vinales has spoken to the media for the first time in his new role as Aprilia MotoGP rider, following his two-day test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Despite the fact that no official lap times were given, we have learned from well-informed sources that the Spaniard was immediately so fast after setting a fastest lap time of 1’33.0 on the first day.
Things went even faster on Tuesday on the second day. Vinales had the best time at 1’32.4 on the second day, a particularly fast time that left him just a second off his own pole time from a year ago, just a tenth of a second slower than his new teammate Aleix Espargaro’s fastest lap time at the time.
Hard to compare of course, but to finish his first two-day test at the Aprilia RS-GP with a lap time that was a tenth of a second faster than Ducati MotoGP test rider Michele Pirro, who was also present during the test.
Despite the impressive lap times, Vinales emphasised afterwards that there is still plenty of work to be done, even if the first signs are promising.
“I found the atmosphere in the box very positive, very calm. We all understand that I need the necessary laps on the bike. With this knowledge, before we try to change things up or try to find a different set-up, I just grabbed Aleix’s bike and started doing my laps with it.” Vinales said.
“That was the most important thing for now. At the end I tried to give good information. To be honest I was surprised that I was fast after just a few laps, but I still have a lot to improve.
“But what really keeps me calm is that I can be fast now with a lot of room to improve. I can’t wait to do more laps and understand everything about the bike better.” Vinales added.
