2023-05-14 19:45:27
Maverick Viñales has been one of the eight riders who crashed today during the MotoGP race of the French Grand Prix. The Aprilia rider starred in an untimely contact with Pecco Bagnaia on the fifth lap of the racewhen both tried not to drop from the leading group, a controversial maneuver that has ended with the Italian and the Spanish exchanging all kinds of reproaches on the gravel of the Le Mans Circuit.
For the #12 Aprilia, neither Jerez nor Le Mans have been good races; in Spain he only scored three points, all in the Sprint Race, and here in France, Maverick has only managed to add one point to his lockerthat of the Sprint race on Saturday, a bad run of results that have dropped him to seventh overall, 45 points behind the leader, Pecco Bagnaia.
It was precisely with the Italian that Maverick carried out a controversial maneuver today that ended with both of them on the ground; the Catalan won the game from Ducati in the braking of turn 11, the first of the ‘S Bleus’ at Le Mans, and when he was making the change of direction, his Aprilia collided from the side with Pecco’s bike and both saw their respective careers ruined there.
“Pecco and I collided at the worst moment, it’s a pity because I had passed him cleanly”, regretted the #12 Aprilia at the end of the test. “My point of view is that Pecco should have left me more leeway, and now we both leave here with a zero. I had potential at Le Mans, and we squandered it.”
Maverick considers that his first pass on Bagnaia was “too clean”and ironizes with the trend that has been seen lately in MotoGP: “Maybe I should have touched him, which is how it happens now, and thrown him out.”, he commented sardonically.
The Catalan insists that his Ducati rival “He has not left me space, zero”, and believes that the Italian “He could have left me space because he sees me, he could see me and I haven’t seen him, and that was when we touched”. Already in the escape, during a tense and brief exchange of slaps, Maverick asked Bagnaia “What was he doing and why wasn’t he giving me space, that it was the fourth lap and there’s no need to go to gain positions”.
WHAT IS THIS?! ???? Maverick Viñales and Pecco Bagnaia go to the ground… And they end up facing each other! ????#FrenchGP ???????? #MotoGP ???? pic.twitter.com/1EH824NK5J
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 14, 2023
“You can fall, they can touch you or they can throw you, but it is that he was very angry because it is already good”said a jaded Maverick Viñales who has been harmed in too many races by the maneuvers of other drivers. “There are already many races in which I have potential and they throw me out or they pass me by and I have to lift the bike. It was that that really made me angry, more than the act itself.”
Already calmer after the crash, Pecco and Maverick spoke to each other and also to the FIM Stewards Panel. From your point of view, what happened should stay in “a career move” no penalty to anyoneespecially since both “We are two of the cleanest drivers when it comes to overtaking, we don’t have to hold a grudge for something like that. There will be more opportunities to face each other on the track, these are things that happen.”
Read also: Bagnaia: “Viñales has returned to the line as if I were not there”
The incident between Maverick and Pecco occurred in the first phase of the race, when the fifth lap had not yet been completed; The Spaniard doesn’t know if his rhythm would have allowed him to catch Marco Bezzecchi, but he is clear that, by rhythm, “At that time I was with the best, but I don’t have much more to say, it is clear that there is a lot of frustration because we know the potential of the Aprilia and we keep working to get good results, but sometimes things don’t go as they should”, concludes Maverick.
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