Viñales hits hard at Silverstone 

Victory gave him his arms at the British GP, but Maverick Viñales will still have to wait a little longer. By finishing second less than half a second behind Francesco Bagnaia, the Catalan still offered himself his second podium in a row after his third place at Assen before the summer break. 

Since the German GP, ​​Viñales has gradually moved up the hierarchy. If at the Sachsenring he had to give up his arms due to a capricious ride-height device, he was fighting for third place with his teammate Aleix Espargaro. We know the rest: third at Assen and second at Silverstone. “I did my best until the end,” emphasizes Viñales. Unfortunately, I lost a little time in the fight during the first laps, but to recover, I put a lot of pressure on the tires and I had nothing left at the end of the race. Bagnaia closed the door securely when I passed him. In a few corners I lost the rear trying to catch up and that's when the race was decided. Either way, I'm happy. »

Logic would therefore dictate that he wins in a few days in Austria, in any case, that is what he is aiming for. “I'm driving well and in harmony with the Aprilia and we are reaching the level we were aiming for,” he confides. We are almost there. We will continue to try even from the next race. We deserve it! »

Aprilia at Red Bull Ring

At the Red Bull Ring, all manufacturers currently entered in MotoGP have appeared at least once on the podium with the exception of Aprilia. Among them, only Ducati (6 victories) and KTM (2) have triumphed on the Austrian track. The Noale firm only has a tenth place as its best result at Spielberg, a performance to be credited to Aleix Espargaro last year at the Austrian GP, ​​the second meeting organized at the Red Bull Ring. 

As for Viñales, he has had some tough times at the Red Bull Ring over the past two years. At the 2020 Austrian GP, he miraculously avoided the Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli and the Ducati of Johann Zarco at the exit of turn 3. The following weekend, at the Styrian GP, ​​he had to jump off his YZR-M1 at the end of the straight due to a brake problem. His machine ended up in the airfences before catching fire, causing the race to be interrupted with a red flag.

#AustrianGP ????????

Maverick Vinales' motorcycle in flames! 😱🔥

The Spaniard has to jump off his bike, probably due to a brake problem 🏍️

▶ https://t.co/6vTgdTN2gP pic.twitter.com/4ontTcY5W1

- CANAL + MotoGP ™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) August 23

Last year, before the red flag following a collision between Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) and the KTM of Dani Pedrosa, he was fighting among the top five. But even before the second start, at the start of the warm-up lap, his bike stopped and he had to leave the pit lane. He was then suspended by Yamaha before putting a term by mutual agreement with the Iwata firm and join Aprilia. His best result at the Red Bull Ring is a fifth place recorded in 2019. 

Will he become the first in the MotoGP era (since 2002) to win with three different manufacturers? Response in less than 10 days…