From the sixth lap onwards, Maverick Vinales struggled with the gearbox – which is why he retired shortly before the finish line – but still delighted with Aprilia’s performance
After his victory in the sprint on Saturday, Maverick Vinales was also on course for a podium finish in the Portuguese Grand Prix. On the first lap, the Aprilia factory rider secured second place behind Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati) and kept Enea Bastianini (Ducati) in third. This was the order in which they completed their laps from then on
At the start of the penultimate lap, Martin had pulled out a narrow one-second lead over his two pursuers. Vinales defended himself against Bastianini. But as they accelerated onto the home straight for the penultimate time, the Aprilia suddenly slowed down.
Bastianini rode past Vinales. The Spaniard gesticulated on his bike and then rode into the asphalt run-off area on the outside of turn 1 at the start of the last lap. There he crashed in the dirt with a highsider and stomped off shaking his head.
In an initial statement, Aprilia reported that a gearbox problem was suspected as the cause. This was ultimately the case, as Vinales confirmed: “I had these problems from the sixth lap.”
“When I wanted to shift from fifth to sixth gear, sometimes the gear wouldn’t engage. That’s why I had to hold the revs for a long time and lost top speed on the straights. That cost me a few tenths of a second.”
“Nevertheless, I was able to set 1:38 lap times, which was incredible.” How was Vinales able to ride this pace almost flawlessly despite this problem? “I pressed the gearshift five times,” he says, describing his battle with the gearbox.
“I thought the whole race that I could fight for victory. Unfortunately, the gearbox problem got worse and worse. I lost more and more time on the straights, I estimate 0.2 seconds. Nevertheless, I was able to set 1:38.8. Unbelievable.”
In the end, it was a losing battle. “After the uphill section towards the home straight, I wanted to shift into sixth gear, but it didn’t work out,” said Vinales, recounting the decisive scenes at the start of the final lap.
MAVERICK CRASHES ON THE LAST LAP! ❌
It looks like he had a technical problem PortugueseGP pic.twitter.com/36420grDJB
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) March 24, 2024
“The bike shifted into neutral and I hit the rev limiter. I put my leg out to signal to Bastianini that I had a problem. I tried to shift into sixth gear again, but it didn’t work.”
At the end of the home straight, Vinales finally went off the track due to the gearbox failure. “So I shifted back into second gear. When I hit the gas, I had the highsider.” With a podium finish in sight, the retirement was sealed.
Team-mate Aleix Espargaro spoke of “a stupid mistake” that was “not a big problem”. Vinales had already experienced this defect last year in Jerez. “It was similar,” said Vinales looking back. “I don’t know if it was the same, but it felt similar.”
Despite the bitter retirement, Vinales was composed after the race and emphasized the positive aspects of the weekend: “When I have the right balance, it’s incredible how I can ride this bike. “
“I think we still have to be positive. I don’t want to say it’s a disappointment, but I want to say that we need to improve on reliability. I want to encourage all Aprilia engineers to improve this area.”
“This is important if we want to fight for victory every weekend. The upcoming tracks are fantastic – especially for me. We have to be satisfied and proud of this weekend. I’m very motivated because I’ve already seen myself win another race. “
