The nine-time MotoGP race winner made his first official appearance with Aprilia in Aragon, which was canceled by Yamaha with immediate effect after its GP ban in Austria.
Vinales completed two days of testing at the RS-GP in Misano before his Grand Prix debut with Aprilia, and in practice and qualifying in Aragon he made a lap time gain of 2.4 seconds.
Vinales finished qualifying in 19th place and finished his first race with Aprilia in 18th place, 27.1 seconds before victory and almost 20 seconds ahead of fourth-placed team-mate Aleix Espargaro.
Vinales was happy with his race as it gave him vital data to help him with his process of adapting to the Aprilia – although it was a new “challenge” for him to compete on a bike that wasn’t expected to win .
“I’m out of my comfort zone so it’s a challenge,” said Vinales.
“It’s a big challenge. It’s true, the result is the result, but for us these six races are like a wish and that’s nice because we can start to work, we can start to understand each other and that’s that Point and where “we have to work.
“I would like to be at the front from the first race, but that’s not fair [to expect that]. I have to work harder and understand the bike a little better.
“It goes step by step. There will be a point where we will take a big step, that’s clear.”
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Vinales made it clear that the main point he needs to work with the Aprilia is corner entry as he still lacks the confidence at the front to maximize the RS-GP in that area.
“I have to improve the corner entry a lot because I was used to doing it in one direction [on the Yamaha] and now I have to change it a little, but I still don’t have the confidence to do it, “he replied when asked by Motorsport.com if this was the main area to focus on.
“So it will work. In terms of traction, I felt pretty good and that is very positive. And the tire life was good throughout the race, I was able to push into the last laps.
“So there are positive things, even if the race wasn’t perfect. But we have positive points, which is always very important.
“It is clear that there is one downside that I have to improve and the guys have to help me a bit. But I definitely have to improve in this area.”
One problem that always plagued Vinales on the Yamaha was the change in mindset at race time after the Dunlop Moto2 rubber was relocated from the Intermediate Grand Prix.
But encouragingly, Vinales says that he did not experience any significant loss of grip during training at the Aragon GP on Sunday.
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“I was driving the same pace as in FP4, so I didn’t feel any loss of grip, so that’s important too,” he added.
“When I felt good potential on the bike at the beginning of the race, I was limited because I had a couple of riders up front, I didn’t know the bike either, I didn’t know how much I could push.
“But then I felt pretty good in the middle of the race, so I could drive well and at the end of the race we were pretty competitive.
“Well, I have to gather information from this race weekend. I have to understand the team and the team has to understand me. At the end, with 40 minutes [in practice], it’s complicated.
“It’s hard, everyone goes so fast. So, yes, we will arrive step by step, I’m pretty sure of that. That was the first step.”