Aprilia struggling at Misano: “It does not seem logical”

Aprilia hoped to put the grip misery from a dirty Aragon MotoGP weekend swiftly behind them at their home Misano circuit this weekend.

But the RS-GPs were left outside the top ten in Saturday’s qualifying and the Sprint race.

Maverick Vinales, fifth at the circuit season, crossed the finish line in 11th place, having lost almost one-second a lap to race winner Jorge Martin (Ducati).

“The feeling we’re having in Misano is quite different from other years,” Vinales said.

“We are struggling. The bike is very inconsistent. One lap, the behaviour of the engine brake works one way, but then the next lap it works different.

“Our competitors are KTM and some Ducati GP23s, and the lap times are not far off. But we need more consistency.”

Vinales was the only Aprilia to make it into Qualifying 2, with team-mate Aleix Espargaro starting 13th. The Spaniard finished in the wheeltracks of Vinales.

“My pace was not that bad. But I couldn’t overtake,” Espargaro said. “Apart from that, the four [GP24] Ducatis are flying. To lose ten seconds in a Sprint… There’s nothing more I can do.”

Trackhouse riders Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez finished just 15th and 17th, respectively.

“I just have no idea why we are struggling this much at this track with such high grip,” admitted Oliveira. 

“It does not seem logical in many ways, but it is what it is and it was a hard Sprint.”

“It was a tough race and overall, quite difficult to understand the situation, not just for me, but also for all the Aprilia riders,” added Fernandez.

“We need to look at why we are slow, it is hard when we cannot work out the lack of pace.

“In the Sprint race, I was there and close to the others in front and then had a battle with Johann (Zarco) and lost two positions – we are just too slow!

“We have to work through the situation and understand why we are not better than we were here last year.”

Oliveira and Fernandez finished sixth and eighth in last year’s San Marino MotoGP.

“All Aprilia boys are struggling a lot with the grip and the feeling with the bike,” said Trackhouse team manager Wilco Zeelenberg. 

“The positive point is that we have a test on Monday, which will be very important and tomorrow is a new chance to improve.”

Vinales provided hope for Aprilia with fourth in Sunday morning’s warm-up, but Espargaro was down in 12th and the Trackhouse duo just 17th and 18th.