Maverick Viñales began his Aprilia campaign in 20th at MotorLand Aragón after utilising Aleix Espargaro’s assistance during Friday’s MotoGP free practice.

The Spaniard’s rapid comeback after splitting with Yamaha just last month, saw him take to the 5km circuit with excitement as he continued his education on the RS-GP. And for Viñales this weekend is all about learning and “just adapting to the bike, honestly,” he admitted.

“Because it's quite hard to keep doing all the lap together, you know, the good sectors. For me, [today] has been very positive, because from FP1 to FP2 we make a big jump, not only on the lap time but also with the feeling, and I think tomorrow we're going to make another jump.

“Step by step I'm improving. Is pretty hard to improve in only 40 minutes, so hard, because you cannot touch nothing, just need to run and try the bike. Overall the feeling is very positive.

"Is true that is very different, it's hard to still continue doing on the way that the bike wants because I'm used to doing it a different way and that's why, maybe I could not split all the sectors on a perfect way.

“Everything, everything is different,” he continued. “For me the most difficult part is to make the four sectors in a row. This is the most difficult part because I tried to push in one way or the other and I keep doing mistakes during all the laps.

“At this moment I'm not riding the bike at the maximum and this is important, because at the end of the day we have a good ideal lap, we have good rhythm and we need to keep looking on that. I think the key right now is calm, and to keep working, because we are far away from the maximum. I think every practice we make a good jump and that's the way to improve and do a good weekend.

“I felt very excited but also the first lap I feel like very stiff. I was very nervous because it's not the same, obviously. The most important for me is to keep understanding the bike. Learning how to be fast with that bike and it seems that we are getting on a good way. FP2 has been quite good, honestly, I'm quite pleased about the lap times and also, with a margin to improve, that is the most important. Overall we always keep learning and this is the main priority.”

Viñales was seem both following and leading his team-mate Espargaro around the Aragón circuit during FP2, with both riders explaining the importance.

“We don't make any special plan,” Viñales said “more than trying to also see what Aleix does - the lines he does, because they are completely different than the line I was used to doing. So, it's a bit different for sure.”

Espargaro himself admitted the practice had its uses too.

“For sure is good to ride with my teammates to understand something. Obviously he had to adapt to the bike, he had to increase his confidence to be fast, but also for me it's like I'm obsessed to improve. So riding behind him, and I am also analysing the video with Matteo, if I can see some difference of riding style, comparing him with Yamaha, him with Aprilia, I can ask him 'why you are doing this different? Why the bike react like this?’

“Let's see if we can improve the bike by seeing different things on Maverick and apart from this to compare Yamaha with Aprilia. Maverick is a very, very good rider, so obviously now he needs to understand the bike, now he's still learning, but I can learn also some riding style skills.

“He's a little bit better than me on the change direction with gas on, so for me it's very important to never stop improving. I think there is still room to improve. I did the podium, which was very good but for me, the goal is another one, is still far, so I want to improve to be better.”

With two days of testing at Misano and a day at Aragón now under his belt, Vinales is aware of his main focus. “Actually I'm still braking too early, that's the main issue,” he admitted.

“I brake early because I was used to kind of different riding style, but we are getting much closer, much closer. In Misano we get very close and I think here by the days, by the practice, we're going to get closer, but right now, for me the most difficult part is the braking. Because acceleration is really good, and I keep controlling well the slide and that's not an issue, honestly. But the braking idea is what I need to get used, because it's too different from what I was used to riding and overall makes that difference on the lap time.

“I think we're going to arrive, I mean it's just doing laps and trusting the front, more than anything else. I don't have a lot of trust. Honestly, it's only 35 laps on this track and it's hard to adapt quick. Really just 40 minutes, 40 minutes then time attack. This is kind of hard but anyway I think now we make a good FP1 and FP2 and now we collect the information.

“This is a learning process. From FP1 to FP2 we improve nearly two-seconds, and then I need to keep getting used to it. Step by step, I don't want to rush too much. I want to learn step by step the bike. Also the way to make the lap time is completely different, so I need to understand it a little bit better to keep doing a better lap.”