MotoGP test, Viñales: “We’ll see where we are with the Aprilia RS-GP in Qatar”

It was a turbulent day at Mandalika today, as riders in the reigning class got a first taste of the Indonesian track. What did they find? Rain and mud, but this wasn’t enough to discourage them as riders headed out to test both their prototypes and the track, considering this is everyone’s first ever visit.

Viñales: “A really nice track”

One man who did well on this first day of action was Aprilia rider Maverick Viñales, who placed seventh on the timesheets with a best of 1:33.147, just +0.681 from first-placed rider, Pol Espargaró. The Spaniard offered some first impressions of this new track, which features on the MotoGP calendar for the first time this season: “It’s really nice, and not so difficult. The layout’s great”. As for his work today: “The bike’s working well here, so I’d say I’m fairly pleased. I didn’t push to the max but the lap time was nevertheless good, so I’m feeling optimistic”.

“We need to keep calm”

Maverick went on to explain more about the day’s work: “I didn’t test new parts but started with the base I’d tested at Sepang. We needed to improve in a few areas there, and now here in different areas, but we don’t have anything new to test anyway”.  The journalists are keen to know whether the track is similar to any other circuits? “No, it doesn’t resemble any other track”, comments Viñales, “There are tight turns where you have to stop the bike, and others that are flowing. In this way, it stands out from other tracks and I have to say that I like it”.

Considering both his form and his performance during the Sepang tests, might 2022 be Maverick’s year? “Well, we need to keep calm, to be honest. We need to keep calm because we’ve only done one test so far, at Sepang, and now Mandalika where no one has ridden before. We’ll need to wait and see in Qatar, where we’ll find out exactly where are, and then from there we’ll really start to work”.

Translated by Heather Watson

Mandalika Test, Bagnaia: “I’m not worried, i have great pace”