Maverick Vinales Blames Aprilia for Bike Failure: 'I Looked Like a Traffic Cone'

Alex Harrington | Oct 6, 2024

Apr 14, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Maverick Vinales (12) of Spain and Aprilia Racing stands on the podium during the playing of the national anthem of Spain after winning the MotoGP Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

During a challenging weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi, Maverick Vinales struggled at the start of the race, leading to a disappointing performance. With a promising start having qualified third, Vinales quickly saw his race unravel as he tumbled down the order to finish ninth in the sprint race.

The Spanish rider quickly pointed to a malfunction on his Aprilia bike as the cause.

"I started well but the front ride height device did not disengage in the first braking zone," Vinales explained, attributing his struggles to the anti-wheelie system failure. "When I opened the gas, there was a wheelie and I lost a lot of positions. I looked like an [traffic] cone on the first lap."

Despite Vinales’ claims, Aprilia's representatives quickly rebutted, suggesting that it was not a mechanical failure to blame. According to an Aprilia spokesperson, the device functioned as intended, and the incident stemmed from inadequate braking pressure applied by Vinales himself.

"The system had not failed, and it was a case of Vinales not braking hard enough," the spokesperson clarified.  "Firm brake pressure is needed in the first corner to bring the bike back to its standard height and activate the full range of rider aid systems."

The current technical challenges are not unfamiliar territory for Vinales, whose race results often fail to mirror his qualifying performance. Yet, this incident has called further attention to the issues at play as Vinales prepares to transition to KTM following the 2024 season. While performance this year produced a victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas, such levels of race have been infrequent amidst plenty of challenges.

"After that, to be honest, I didn’t have the rhythm to be with the front guys."

Within Aprilia's technical leadership, Romano Albesiano, the current technical director, is poised to leave for Honda at the close of the season, making way for Fabiano Sterlacchini from KTM. Whether these internal changes will address existing performance discrepancies remains uncertain.

Vinales, on his part, reiterated his stance: “There was no issue with my performance and that Aprilia’s struggles since the Texas success were technical in nature.”

2024 Japanese MotoGP Sprint Results

1. Francesco Bagnaia
2. Enea Bastianini
3. Marc Márquez
4. Jorge Martín
5. Franco Morbidelli
6. Fabio Di Giannantonio
7. Álex Márquez
8. Jack Miller
9. Maverick Viñales
10. Marco Bezzecchi
11. Raúl Fernández
12. Fabio Quartararo
13. Luca Marini
14. Johann Zarco
15. Augusto Fernández
16. Álex Rins
17. Lorenzo Savadori
18. Remy Gardner
19. Joan Mir
20. Pedro Acosta
21. Aleix Espargaró
22. Takaaki Nakagami
23. Brad Binder