Maverick Vinales gambled with a soft front Michelin in Sunday's Jerez MotoGP which turned into a survival race as grip disappeared early on.

The Monster Yamaha man came close to disaster with only a handful of laps gone and then did what he could to secure a podium spot but maintains his settings were what he needed for the race.

“Definitely. I think we had a good set-up, I pushed the first eight laps. The idea was to open a gap, but I had some mistakes first lap in corner eight, I nearly high-sided," said Vinales.

"And then lap eight, I think, at corner six I nearly lost the front, and then in the last corner. So I saw that the front was a big struggle today.

“Anyway, in safe mode, I think we were battling good, I didn’t let Jack go a lot, trying to understand how to save the tyres, how to ride the bike especially with this slippery front tyre.

“I overtook Jack and I felt immediately good, so I started to hit good laptimes and I started to be fast again.

“The second place is good for us, today we make a survival race especially because of the front, but for sure that’s not an excuse.

“We need to work better, we need to work better. But I was happy with the first laps because it’s been so long since I felt that strong.”