Maverick Viñales returns to the stage of the last successful moment with Yamaha

This weekend will be the MotoGP Dutch GP, which for Maverick Viñales represents a return to Assen: a circuit where he had his last moment of glory with Monster Energy Yamaha about a year ago.

The Dutch race preceded then, as now, the summer break. The rider was already going through a difficult period, unable to reach the level of colleague Fabio Quartararo, who constantly fought for podiums and was on his way to what would become the title.

But in Assen, Viñales had a glimmer of hope. He took pole position (which turned out to be the only one of 2021) and in the race he was at a high level and in direct fight for the victory with Quartararo finishing in second position.

There was a feeling that fortunes could change for the #12, but the day after the race he announced the split with Yamaha at the end of 2021. After the summer break, the frustrating Styrian GP, ​​which ended up in the pit lane and the operating the bike in a dangerous way for no reason, was the one that marked the end of his connection with the Iwata manufacturer.

Now, Viñales arrives in Assen in a very different context. He is in the ascendancy with Aprilia, having shown at Sachsenring last weekend, for the first time, the arguments to fight for the podium. Since 2018, the Spaniard has always ended up on the podium in the Netherlands, a sequence he will try to follow up on this weekend.