After finishing his first top ten as an Aprilia rider at Misano, Maverick Vinales is hoping for more of them in the second Portuguese MotoGP of the year.
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The Spaniard not only got his best result for the Italian manufacturer, but Vinales also finished within two tenths of his team-mate Aleix Espargaro.
Even more impressive was the fact that Vinales started the race from 19th place on the grid, while Espargaro was eight places further up.
“I arrive at Portimao with really good feelings. The move in Misano has more to do with the final position,” said Vinales.
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“Actually, we worked a lot at the RS-GP, in the end a clear improvement that we can also show here. That is our goal – to get to know this new bike and alchemy further with my riding style.
“That helps us better prepare for 2022 and in the meantime we will try to take some positive results home with us before the end of the season.”
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Unlike Vinales, who only contested three races for the team, two of which were on the same track, Espargaro has the advantage of having driven the RS-GP21 at Portimao earlier this season.
And given the improvements the bike has made since then, not to mention Espargaro’s brilliant form for much of this season, the Spaniard is sure to be a contender for the top ten – he finished sixth in April while Vinales aboard the Monster Energy Yamaha 11th.
Ahead of the weekend, Espargaro added: “We are going back to Portimao under very different conditions compared to the first race, both in terms of the weather and because we had the chance to really improve the new RS-GP Aprilia.
“I like this track and we had a good first race here. I can’t wait to get back on track to see our improvements. We have two races left to finish this championship season well.”