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It took Maverick Vinales more than three years to return to the joy of a MotoGP Grand Prix victory. In fact, the winner of last year's GP of the Americas had not stood on the top step of a Grand Prix podium since the opening round of the 2021 season, his last triumph riding the Yamaha M1. Settling in Aprilia after a stormy split from the Iwata-based manufacturer, Vinales has repeatedly struggled to get the most out of a steadily improving RS-GP, only managing to find his footing in the last few rounds in Portugal and Texas, where he also took victory in both Sprint races.
A long adjustment path that surprised and, at the same time, gave motivation to Johann Zarco, as the transalpine admitted when speaking about the Spaniard's rebirth to the microphones of Canal+.
"We all know that Vinales is more talented and gifted than Aleix and I expected him to be much faster than him from the start. He was not immediately fast, sometimes he even fought for 15th and 16th place, and that was surprising," Zarco noted. " Finally, after a year, you can see that he is there. Sometimes he is very fast, although sometimes he doesn't confirm it. He has had ups and downs and that has not translated into great consistency. In Austin he attacked in an incredible way. The Sprint win, the comeback and the times he set in the race: wow! He did what he knows how to do, 'matched' everything."
Few people know as well as Johann what it means to change paths and have to reinvent himself in the process. Given that he, like Maverick, also decided in 2019 to terminate his contract with KTM this season to seek better luck with another project.
"He was just as bold in choosing to leave Yamaha to go to Aprilia, although maybe not as bold as I was when I had left KTM, because he already had a contract with Aprilia, while I had nothing," the Frenchman commented.
This is another reason why, although the difficulties Vinales has faced in recent years are not the same as those Zarco is facing, the newfound success from Top Gun is a source of inspiration for the 33-year-old, who hopes to accomplish a similar parabola with the RC213V and bring Honda back to the top, working with patience and determination together with the LCR team.
"It encourages you to tell yourself 'stay the course,' because you're at the highest level of motorcycle technology, with crazy engineers, so once you figure things out and adapt it a little bit to your own style, you can make magic," he said, " That's kind of what I'm looking for: The chance to have time to work, to achieve that."
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