MotoGP Austin: ‘Speed, potential to be top three’ - Viñales

Maverick Viñales claimed top ten in the AmericasGP on Sunday but while a strong result, the potential of his partnership with Aprilia hints at much more.

Having sat second in the times after Friday’s opening practice, Viñales maintained impressive pace across the Austin weekend before topping warm up on Sunday morning, with eventually winner Enea Bastianini just a tenth behind. A difficult Saturday, however, left the Spaniard unable to match the front running pace over one lap and facing the Q1 fight.

Lining up 14th on the Texas grid, between teammate Aleix Espargaro and WithU Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, he found his rhythm once again. Battling the Argentina winner and KTM’s Bra Binder in the closing stages before closing the line in tenth, twelve seconds back from the Gresini.

“Actually I think is the weekend when I feel better with the bike,” Viñales confirmed after the race. “It was tough. It was tough Saturday, because today we had the rhythm, we had the speed, we have the potential to be in the top three. So we need to keep working, keep building, keep learning.

“I think we are into the right way. We are into the right mood and we have motivation. Every race I finish I felt better. I felt more competitive and I felt more one with the bike. Still for sure is a long way to go, a long way to improve but I can see myself in the front and this is very important. This is confidence so we are building a lot of confidence.

“If I have to say something is that this weekend we make a mistake on Saturday. Because, well, not a mistake. We were unable to push more. If not, I think was amazing race. Anyway, it is how it is. Now we face on the way that we were very fast when we were alone, without traffic. So we keep building, we