‘On another planet’

The Spaniard became the first rider ever to win premier class GP races with three different manufacturers win Grand Prix races with three different manufacturers (Suzuki, Yamaha, and now Aprilia) with his victory on Sunday.

It was quite the dramatic race for Vinales, who started on pole but quickly dropped to 11th after an horrendous start. But by Lap 13, the 29-year-old had reclaimed his lead following several top class overtakes.

“Honestly, when he was 11th in lap one, it was like ‘game over’, you’re never coming back from 11th. No one does that these days,” Laverty said.

“In his defence, he said he had a problem with the clutch off the line. It wasn’t a horrendous start, he brakes a little bit early.

“When you’re buried, you’re mired in the pack… you’re passing world championship winning riders, and he’s doing at will, so smooth.

“He was aggressive when he needed to be. He was making overtakes on the brakes. He was using superior steering and handling.

“When he got to the head of the pack, there was going to be no other victor today.

“Maverick was just on another planet today.”

Laverty insists Vinales is now a man in demand following another supreme display.

“He fully believes, he knows that this has been the last roll of the dice these last three rounds. Now all of a sudden, Maverick’s stock value is through the roof,” he continued.

“Aprillia want to keep him, Honda, Yamaha want to sign him. KTM might even have a sniff.

“There’s little chinks in his armour, but I think they’re gone. He is a proper contender on this form.”

“I was feeling everyone pushing me,” Vinales said in parc ferme. “I was feeling all the amazing support I had from all the fans here in America, it’s been spectacular.

“What can I say, history made – I’m dreaming! I’m super happy; we need to keep working, obviously, I had an issue with the clutch, so that’s one mistake and we need to be careful, but then the pace was amazing. I don’t know how many overtakes I made!”

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