“It’s hard to accept that I’m a passenger on the bike”

Tech3 KTM rider Maverick Vinales says he is still “a passenger” on his MotoGP bike as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained at the German Grand Prix in July.

Vinales missed the Czech GP entirely followed the crash, then attempted to return to action, following the summer break, at the Austrian GP. But racing at Spielberg proved unrealistic following his practice runs, and he sat out the Hungarian GP a week later.

The Spaniard finally raced again at Barcelona last weekend, albeit with limited success, qualifying 22nd and finishing the grand prix 13th.  

This weekend at Misano has seen a slight single-lap improvement, as he qualified 16th. But after finishing a modest 15th in the sprint, he reminded the press of his ongoing limitations.

“It’s hard to accept that I’m a passenger more than driving the bike, but it is what it is,” he said.

“We need to accept that in some sectors we are able to be competitive, but in some others, at the moment, we are struggling more.

“Sector 3 has [always] been one of my fastest sectors at Misano, and this year I’m not able to hold on to the bike, I’m not able to ride fast. I [give up at least two or three tenths] every single lap there, and at the end of the race, that’s a lot.”

The 30-year-old underlined that although pain is a factor – one that varies by the day – it’s not the main issue when it comes to performance.

“My problem is that I have no strength. You can take painkillers but it’s not [like] you take painkillers and the strength is multiplied by 1000.

“I think it’s more about power now than pain. This is what I’m feeling.”

Vinales knows that building muscle will be key to both the performance and pain aspects.

“I know when the muscle comes, then the pain is going to go away. Now I’m forcing with the joints, with the ligaments, with everything, because I have no muscles.

“The moment I have muscles, then all this pain is going to disappear from one day to the next.”

Vinales’ injury is costing him the chance to take advantage of a recent improvement in KTM fortunes, which culminated in his team-mate Enea Bastianini taking a podium finish in Barcelona.