MotoGP Austria: Maverick Vinales: ‘We made a big mistake, not every day is like Christmas’
Vinales, who made a strong start to the race which involved overtaking MotoGP series leader Fabio Quartararo on the opening lap [turn♔ nine], slowly saw his progress fade as the race went on. &nb🍷sp;
Although team-mate Aleix Espargaro also struggled t𝐆o maintain his pace as Luca Marini and Johann Zarco came past the Spaniard late on, Espargaro was still able to remain inside the t🧜op ten.
For⛄ Vinales, the former Yamaha rider began to suffer✅ after making a mistake in turn four which saw him drop from fifth to eighth.
Failing to gat༒her enough information on the medium rear tyre throughout the weekend - Vinales elected to run th💜e soft option, a decision that saw the 27 year-old drop like a stone as a result.
"We just didn’t trust the medium [tyre]," Vinales told MotoGP.com. "On the medium rear tyre clearly we made a miᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚstake, a big mistake.
"But at the end it 🎀was the gamble we took and it didn’t pay off. Not every day is Christmas.
"We need to try to work harder, especially on the practices to understand it before. We tri♉ed it in the Warm-up but unfortunately it started raining so we could not try [th𓆉e tyre] when the medium starts to work.
"It was a weekend that was difficult because this different carcass was hard for our bike but at the end I think we found a lot of positive things on the bike and also about the riding style we 🌊improved aඣ lot."
Vinales not alone in struggling for traction at the Austrian MotoGP
Like Vinales, Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro was another rider w𓆉ho fa⛦ced difficulties with rear grip.
In the midst of a truly disastro🐈us second season with the Japanese manufacturer, the soon-to-be GASGAS Factory KTM rider also became the victim of arm pump during las๊t Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Espargaro said: "Today🌳 we𒀰 had a very difficult race honestly, we struggled with traction and stopping the bike and also a bit of arm pump.
"All of these issues contribute to not riding in the best way and this was the result today. We need to keep our spirit u🃏p and fo𒁏cus on our work.
"Misano next week is a very different circuit so we hope that we can enjoy the weekend like we did there last year. There are still many races left this♛ year sᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚo we have to persist."
