RiderTua.com – In 7 days the Jerez series will be held (28/4), will Vinales and Aprilia be strong again? Maverick Vinales celebrates his first win in 3 years at COTA and making him the first MotoGP rider to achieve victory with 3 different manufacturers, the Aprilia factory rider was praised for rediscovering the confidence and courage needed to win races.
Neil Hodgson says Maverick is in the position where he should be to win and had a strong weekend. He’s always been on a good bike, as a factory Yamaha and factory Suzuki rider. He had opportunities but didn’t produce results.
Maverick Vinales Will Win Again at Jerez This Week? 50-50
Neil Hodgson added, “We’ve been negative on him, and I hate being negative on drivers. But a lot of times we say ‘he’s not quite there yet’. I really think the final piece of the puzzle is missing. It’s like the way he’s racing now and The balance of the bike is better, we will see him performing well more often.”
“Will I favor Vinales at Jerez (next series)? I still need to see more from Maverick. I’m 50-50. But we won’t rule him out at Jerez,” he added.
What has happened in the last few years is in contrast to Vinales’ glory days at Yamaha, where the 29 year old rider ended two seasons in 3rd place in the standings. 3 podiums in last season’s main races could only result in 7th overall.
Hodgson explained that Maverick blamed himself. Not physically but much worse, namely mentally. He knows the Spanish rider quite well. We see him walking around the paddock in his darkest period, when results are not showing and performance is poor.
Vinales is an introverted type of person, he is shy and doesn’t want to make ‘eye contact’ with anyone he talks to. But because he is so talented, this is even worse! The hard part is that he has the ability. Some people don’t have the skills, but he was brave and a good bike rider. He’s got it all. And now he is using it as best as possible,” added the former British rider.
With Vinales’ victory at COTA with Aprilia, he succeeded in winning with 3 different manufacturers (previously at Suzuki and Yamaha) where Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo failed to achieve it.
However, his victory at COTA where Vinales lost pole position then dropped to 11th after contact at the first corner, then he managed to push back to the front, was not a coincidence.
Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola crowned his Aprilia as the fastest bike in the 3rd series of the 2024 MotoGP season. This clearly raises expectations for what Vinales might be able to do at Jerez (4th series on April 26-28) next week. For information, previously he also won consecutive sprints in Portimao and Texas.
