Maverick Vinales climbed the MotoGP podium for the first time with the Italian company in Assen, where the lead of the race fell to Aleix Espargaró
Maverick Vinales relaxed with the media who had traveled to the Assen Circuit to cover the Dutch Grand Prix. The Catalan went into a relaxed and confident chat four days after the race in Germany, the first Sunday on which he appeared in front with his Aprilia, although a mechanical problem eventually forced him to return to the box. “It could come here in Assen… It could come in Silverstone, or it could come in the race I least expect because the Sachsenring wasn’t a track I thought I could do and I went for it. You have to be open-minded and ready for the opportunity. This is how I am, ready for the opportunity,” he spoke of the opportunity to take his first podium with a very competitive motorcycle in the hands of Aleix Espargaró, with a brand that trusted him after his abrupt break with Yamaha, until the point of extending his contract for 2023 and 2024 when he hadn’t shown anything remarkable, and his prediction/wish came true this Sunday, with Viñales crossing the finish line in third after having started eleventh.
“A lot has happened, but right now I’m the happiest man in the world,” he acknowledged after this year of so many changes. “I can’t ask for more. I have a very competitive bike, a very good factory team, Aprilia supports me, I have a great family… I couldn’t ask for more. I have everything I have ever dreamed of and I I’m ready to pull out all the stops. I’m going to improve every day to be stronger, and it’s not easy because the competitive level in MotoGP is very high, but I already know what I can achieve. We’ll see where I’m in the last race of the season,” he pointed out to a factory that is experiencing an exceptional moment, to the point of leading the teams’ standings, something unimaginable before the season started. In fact, in 2021 they were ninth in the championship. eleven participating teams in the royal class.
“Of course I want to win, but at this point in the championship it’s very important to stay ahead of Fabio and cut him off. I would really like to go on holiday with less than a Grand Prix difference, a lot,” he said. Espargaró out on Saturday after finishing fifth on the starting grid, three places behind leader Fabio Quartararo, with whom he was 34 points behind overall.
On Sunday, Granollers’s was the absolute protagonist in the MotoGP race. After nearly falling to the ground due to a mistake just from Quartararo, he returned to the track in fifteenth, and with two more gears he passed rivals at a devilish pace, to the point where he culminated his performance with a double overtaking in the last chicane to two tough guys like Brad Binder and Jack Miller. Fourth, which allowed him to add thirteen points and keep his deficit at 21, under the 25 barrier, to fulfill his pre-holiday wish.
An achievement that shines a light on a fantastic year for a driver whose sporting career seemed to follow the downward curve, for years in the category, for the age and drive of the youngsters coming from below, and for his registration in a factory, which has little chance had success. Eleven Grands Prix later, Espargaró is second in the World Championship, having won one race and been on the podium in four others. And he’s not giving up his efforts to become champion against the odds.
“We did it. I lost a win, because I think I could win, but for me the most important thing, apart from the difference with Fabio, and I said it a few days ago, because the consistency was very good, me felt the fastest had the speed to fight for the championship because if not even if you are constant you cant and today i got it back i think i was the fastest on the track today and that is very important to me. They don’t give points for that, but it tells me I can win the championship,” Espargaró said. A few words accompanied by facts, of what he shows every day on the track, which gives him the right to keep dreaming of becoming a champion. For him and for a brand that doesn’t stop growing, that behaves like a real team, and that puts other constructors with much more background in serious trouble.
Source: La Verdad
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