“This year, Barcelona was no longer Aprilia’s territory”

The superiority of the Bologna bikes this year has been so overwhelming that even on a track like the Catalan one, where Aprilia has always been very competitive, the GP24 destroyed its rivals. Although it is true that Aleix Espargaro He won the sprint on Saturday, the long race on Sunday, Pecco Bagnaia And Jorge Martin They crossed the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the others.

Surely because of this detail, Maverick Vinales He brakes suddenly when he is reminded that Montmeló is Aprilia's territory.

“This year the Circuit was not Aprilia territory, in 2023 it was the case, but this year it was more Ducati,” explains the Spanish rider in the preview of the Barcelona Solidarity GP, also remembering that during the May race, he could only be 12th at the finish line.

But Maverick doesn't look back, and in his final weekend with Aprilia, I hope to reap the rewards of all the work done in the last few races.

“I am expecting a weekend in which we will be very focused on work. The Asian tour went very well, we got the most out of the bike on all occasions, we got the first lines. It's a circuit that I like and with what We learned on the circuit that we can make a good bike for Barcelona and shine again. We are focused and eager to go there”, he affirms. .

The additional compounds that Michelin brought for the weekend, four at the front and three at the rear, complicate the drivers' work.

“You have the sessions you have to test them, there aren't any more. But you feel a bit safe with the softer tires they brought, at least on the left side. I think they did a good job of providing more options for deciding what to do.” we want to ride, it will depend on the temperature. We already know that on this circuit, turn two, turn five… the tire arrives cold, they did well, even I would have brought four rears, a softer one”, he says laughing. “We will exclude it some right off the bat, unless someone tries it and says it works great. We are four riders at Aprilia and we can share the work, let's see if we can balance it.”

Viñales does not take for granted that the majority choice is for softer compounds.

“A soft front tire does not always mean that it rolls better than a medium tire. I really like hard tires, the bike accepts it better, it turns more, it depends on the bike and above all on the weather and the the temperature, you can start the day gently and end it hard.

For Maverick, racing for the second time this year in Montmeló is not a great advantage, because, he assures, the bike has changed a lot since then.

“Electronically, yes, the engine braking is very different. We have evolved and changed, correcting small errors. I'm not going to start Friday with the same bike as in May, that's for sure,” he said. excluded from using this base. .