The Spaniard blitzed the present lap file on the Circuit of the Americas to attain his first pole of the 12 months, which he then transformed to a dominant dash victory.
Vinales grabbed the holeshot off the road and beat the sphere by 2.294 seconds to assert back-to-back dash victories in 2024.
Whereas happy along with his dash win, Vinales felt his qualifying was extra fulfilling however ‘doesn’t know’ how he set his file 2m00.864s lap.
“Simply having fun with this second, that’s superb,” Vinales stated.
“For me, greater than the dash I loved extra the qualifying…. I don’t know the way I did this lap.
“I simply make one thing magic with the bike right this moment and that’s spectacular.
“I’m very pleased, clearly I’m satisfied we are able to do a tremendous job this 12 months, not solely right here however throughout all of the 12 months. I really feel higher than ever, clearly.”
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Group
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
That is the primary time Vinales has received back-to-back races in his MotoGP profession for the reason that earliest days of his tenure with Yamaha, when he scored victories in Qatar and Argentina in 2017.
Requested by Motorsport.com if his present Aprilia type feels related, Vinales stated: “No, now I’m in a completely totally different stage.
“I want I used to be feeling like now some years in the past as a result of I’ve the expertise and bodily, I really feel so sturdy.
“That is the 12 months I really feel stronger bodily talking, I work loads for it.
“I simply really feel that have, power, and the approach I’ve on the bike is matching collectively to do these outcomes.
“That’s implausible. Each time it repeats, that phrase in my head, ‘by no means hand over’ as a result of laborious work pays off and it’s paying off. I’m extraordinarily pleased. Clearly, I’m doing lots of effort and my household is doing lots of effort.”
Vinales says he is ready to journey the RS-GP “naturally” now, however within the pre-season didn’t really feel assured on the 2024 Aprilia.
Acknowledging this, Vinales says a change within the weight distribution of the bike from the Portuguese GP has unlocked his type on the 2024 RS-GP.
“I stated within the earliest laps within the take a look at I used to be not feeling snug on the bike,” he defined.
“I had a really unusual crash in Malaysia within the final nook. So, I had no confidence with the brand new bike, however we labored with the settings, labored with the stability and step-by-step I used to be feeling higher.
“However in Qatar it was not sufficient, I used to be not using it on the most.
“So mainly we modified somewhat bit the load distribution on the bike in Portimao and it modified like this – from right here to right here.
“So, mainly now I’ve the identical feeling as final 12 months however with a motorcycle that may be a little bit higher due to the aerodynamics.”