A distant last-place finish compounded a difficult weekend for Maverick Vinales at the Indonesian Grand Prix, where his finishing position remained unchanged despite a post-race penalty for low tyre pressure. The sanction merely capped off a challenging Grand Prix weekend at the Mandalika circuit.
Before the penalty was officially applied by race stewards, Vinales was already languishing more than 21 seconds behind rookie Honda rider Diogo Moreira. Furthermore, he crossed the finish line almost 34 seconds adrift of the next KTM machine belonging to Brad Binder, who managed an 11th-place finish.
The Mandalika round marked only the second event back for the Spaniard following several months on the sidelines dedicated to further treatment on his troublesome shoulder injury. However, after securing a 14th-place finish during his return weekend at Motegi, the Indonesian outing proved to be a significant step backward in terms of performance and competitiveness.
The former Suzuki, Yamaha, and Aprilia race winner could only manage 18th out of 20 finishers during the Saturday Sprint race. He then dropped to 17th in the Grand Prix main race, an event heavily impacted by four rider retirements and Aleix Espargaro failing to take the start on the grid.
The Tech3 squad acknowledged that their rider was not feeling at his physical best when tracking the RC16 during the morning warm-up session. Vinales himself openly admitted a severe lack of fundamental feeling and confidence with the factory-supported machinery.
"It was a bad race," Vinales said reflecting on the grand prix. "Already this morning in the warm up I felt really bad and at my limit."
He elaborated on the physical toll and ongoing adaptation struggles during the race distance. "I did the race and tried to finish for my team. I tried to do a good rhythm in the middle of the race but it was really difficult. I tried to push but, also, I still don’t feel so good with the bike."
Looking ahead, the grand prix winner emphasized the immediate need for rest rather than intensive physical training to gauge his recovery. "It was very tough to do something good. Now is the time just to relax and go onto the next one. I will not train for the next days and try to recover and see the evolution of my physical condition over the next days. It was a very tough weekend."
Team Manager Nicolas Goyon offered a frank assessment of the weekend's struggles in the garage, pointing toward setup hurdles that hindered confidence from the outset.
“For some reason, Maverick never really felt comfortable on the bike," Goyon stated regarding the performance deficit. “He didn’t find a good setup and couldn’t find the confidence. It was clearly a disappointing result today."
“Maverick will have to take a break, refresh himself and come back in Phillip Island in better spirits and there is no reason why we can’t do it.”
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