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Category: Superbikes
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MAVERICK RECOVERS FROM NINTH TO FOURTH AND MISSES THE PODIUM BY JUST 80 THOUSANDTHS
The fourth-place finish today in the Qatar race was undoubtedly disappointing for Maverick Viñales, who made a spectacular comeback ride from ninth place. Only eighty thousandths of a second separated him from a final result that was within his potential. After the accident yesterday which had even made his participation today doubtful, Aleix rode in the Warm-up and then decided to join the 21-lap race. However, the pain in his left leg, specifically the lack of feeling in his foot, forced him to retire during the seventh lap.
After starting from the third row, Maverick found himself in ninth place during the opening lap. After an initial period of settling in, he began his comeback, encouraged by an outstanding race pace. However, the inevitable time lost overtaking had left him with a gap of over three seconds behind the podium, a distance that the Spanish rider stubbornly reduced to zero, even attempting to overtake on the final turns. The awareness of his potential at the end of the race is the best precedent for the final round in Valencia and for his continued adventure with Aprilia.
ALEIX
"I wanted to give it a go today, but at a certain point, I lost feeling and strength in my left foot so I was unable to work the gear shifter. Even in the Warm-up, I noticed this risk. The hours of rest ahead of the race weren’t enough time to fully recover. Knowing our pace, it’s a pity, but I was unable to continue. Now focus to Valencia where I hope to arrive at physical fitness that will be sufficient to finish the season well."
MAVERICK
"The balance we found this weekend on the RS-GP is, in my opinion, the best of 2023. That is the truly positive thing. The path has been mapped out and we are well aware of the technical direction that needs to be followed. At the risk of sounding repetitive, once again, having to recover ground makes everything harder and keeps me from achieving the results which – in terms of pace – we deserve. With the speed that we then demonstrate in the race, improving in qualifiers and the race start must be our mantra from now until the start of the next season."
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MAVERICK SIXTH, ALEIX INVOLVED IN A CRASH AND INJURED
In the spectacular setting of the revamped Losail circuit, the MotoGP Sprint Race had Maverick as the best Aprilia – sixth across the line – after a long chase behind Bagnaia. Aleix, on the other hand, was involved in a crash in the early stages of the race which left him in pain. The subsequent medical checks showed a small fracture at the top of the left fibula which will be reassessed tomorrow morning after a night of rest.
In the race tomorrow, Maverick will start from the second spot on the third row which he earned in qualifying. On the other hand, if he participates, Aleix will be penalised six positions, so he’ll have to start from the sixth row.
MAVERICK
"A good Sprint Race, although I had hoped to be able to have a go with Bagnaia. We actually had a very similar pace, but by spending the entire race behind him, I was able to figure out which aspects of the RS-GP need to be improved. Once again, starting from behind cost me a lot of time in the early laps – another area where we need to improve in 2024 because it conditions the end result a great deal. In any case, I felt good in the saddle and I believe that I obtained the maximum possible. Tomorrow we’ll see if and how things will change with twice as many laps and even more crucial tyre management."
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ON THE NEW ASPHALT AT LOSAIL THE RS-GP MACHINES DO WELL: MAVERICK THIRD, ALEIX FIFTH AND FERNANDEZ AHEAD OF THE REST
The fact that Losail was a track where the RS-GP could express its full potential was easy to imagine, but the unknown of the new asphalt placed an ominous question mark on any predictions. In reality, the Aprilias started well in Qatar, with three riders in the top ten and straight through to Q2.
Ahead of everyone was Raùl Fernandez with his "satellite" RS-GP, a performance that came after a series of good signs from the young Spaniard. Maverick was third, with his best lap (and new track record) nullified by a yellow flag, whereas Aleix was fifth after a harmless crash in the first session.
An overall good performance in the first two sessions of a weekend that promises to be demanding.
ALEIX
"I’m obviously pleased with this start. It’s only Friday – we always say it: there is still much to do. We especially need to analyse the data to understand why the RS-GP works so well in certain conditions. We’ll need to improve on our weak points – essential if we want to battle for a championship title. The new asphalt gradually improved. In the first session, it was rather dirty and deviating from the ideal trajectory was probably what caused my crash. There’s still a question mark on tyre choice. We’ll need to continue working on it tomorrow."
MAVERICK
"Like every Friday, the goal today was to go through to Q2. Being so fast is positive anyway, although we still have a lot to improve on. Tyre management with this new asphalt was an unknown for everyone and whoever works best preparing will have advantages both in the Sprint Race tomorrow and in the Race on Sunday. In any case, the good level of the RS-GP in these conditions is clear if we think about a week ago in Malaysia. This confirms that in MotoGP, you always have to put in the effort and the hard work without ever stopping."
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Team Gresini MotoGP had a great debut day at Lusail, and it was especially the case for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was quick in both today’s session and ended up second quickest in the afternoon’s key practice. There is still work to do for the Rome-born rider, who needs to find a better feeling with the front-end and to get a deeper understanding of how the different tyres behave on the new asphalt.
The yellow flag situations ad the end of the practice session prevented Alex Marquez from earning the direct seed to Q2. The Spanish rider, who worked hard on the bike set-up, will be forced to go through Q1 tomorrow, but the feeling he had this afternoon bodes well.
2nd - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (1’52.892)
“We did a good job, whie trying to focus on improving the front-end feeling. We need to keep working well and analyse all the tyre options in order to make the best decision for tomorrow’s sprint race and Sunday’s full encounter. We need to decide on whether to gamble on durability or speed. We were quick all day long, but we need to keep working tonight ahead of tomorrow’s sessions. The track is great, maybe the one that has improved the most from previous editions: there’s a lot of grip so it’ll be crucial to know how to play with the tyres.”
12th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’53.561)
“The yellow flag situations were like a sentence… especially at the last corner when you get them after pushing hard for the whole lap. We could have comfortably been in Q2, likely lapping in 1’52.9secs, but flags sometimes helps and other times don’t… The track changed a lot from the morning, we worked on the set-up and I’m quite happy. The goal tomorrow is to get into Q2.”
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MAVERICK FINISHES ELEVENTH, ALEIX CRASHES
The Malaysian Sunday in Sepang did not bring the improvements hoped for in the Aprilia camp, where they had to settle for Maverick’s eleventh-place finish. His race was conditioned primarily by being in the most crowded part of the pack where, between overtaking and tyre management, it is difficult to exploit a pace which, on paper, could have earned better results.
Aleix, on the other hand, fell victim to a crash on turn 9 as he was attempting to close the gap from his twelfth-place position. His generosity encountered a less than perfect feeling with the front end, a recurring sensation throughout the weekend, which the technicians will be working on both in view of Qatar and in terms of developing the 2024 RS-GP.
ALEIX
"A weekend to forget, without a doubt. In the warm-up session, we tried a very different setup on the bike and, to be honest, I was fast but I realised straight away that I was closer to the limit with the front end. The most difficult thing to accept is not so much the crash – these things can happen – but rather the gap we had behind the leaders. When I crashed on turn nine I was twelfth, without the pace to even think about a serious comeback. We need to think about this and find a solution to get back to being competitive."
MAVERICK
"It wasn’t a fantastic race, but it was what we could do today. By now we have figured out that, if you’re in the middle of the group, you might even have a good pace, but you aren’t able to fully express it. You have to overtake and not let anyone overtake you and manage tyre temperature – all factors that ultimately limit your overall performance. I’m looking at the positive: a race like this allowed us to collect lots of information. Maybe we won’t be able to use it straight away in Qatar, but the Aprilia engineers will certainly have a lot of data to help them in developing the 2024 bike."
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