Although yet to find a comfortable balance for the 2024 Aprilia, Maverick Vinales feels the extra downforce it generates can help deliver♊ a ‘strong’ we💞ekend on the roller-coaster layout of Portimao.

Aleix Espargaro has felt at home from his first laps on the new aerodynamically advanced bike, but team-mate Vinales and Trackhouse rider Miguel Oliveira are still trying to adapt to a machine Vinales describes as “a really big𝓀 change”.

“Doha didn't reflect our potential, so we must keep working, keep focus,” said Vinales, who finished♏ ninth (Sprint) and tenth (GP) in the Lusail races.

“Portimao h♓as been a good track for me but also for the bike. And especially for this year’s bike, I think it's going to be strong.  Seeing the downforce and all the stuff that the bike is brℱinging, it might be a really good track for us.”

Vinales began last season as the top Aprilia in fifth (Sprint) and sec❀ond (GP) place at Portimao.

The Spaniard finished the year confident he had foun🌊d a consistent balance with the ’23 RS-GP, especially for time attacks.♔ But it’s been back to the drawing board with the 2024.

“At the༒ end of the year, we discovered the balance, I really liked it to push, and the bike allowed me to push. We were on the front row, even on tracks where we usually struggled like Austria💞,” he said.

“So basiཧcally it's a matter of balance for me with this bike. Somehow, sometimes when I put a new tyre, I don't turn and I cannot make good lines. So I'm not able t🧸o take out the maximum from the bike.”

He added: “Of course, the first impression when I jumped into the new bike was very different from w🦋hat I was ♔expecting. Because the change was really big, to be honest, but probably in a good direction.

“So we need to still work, we need laps with this bike. Wit🌟h the 2023 bike we've been one year and at the end we accomplished a really good setting.

“Basically the bike of this year has much more front grip. Anᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚd a little bit less rear grip. And it gives you a different feeli♎ng. Especially when you go for a time attack.

“But it's a matter of balance because the weight distribution is a little bit different. So I'm not worried about that because I know we're going to recover the speed an🧔d we're going to be fast.

“Of cour💎se, we left a [‘23] bike 🦩that I was feeling already good and now we need to do it again. That's the only thing.”

“For m🍒e, it's a matter of set🏅ting,” Vinales reiterated. “We need to change the setting and try to recover that rear grip that we need.”