Maverick Vinales defended his decision to use the hard Michelin rear in yesterday’s Misano MotoGP and said the problems he is encountering are the bike not the tyres.

The Spaniard is mystified how he can smash the lap record on one day and then become ‘a cone on the track’ the day after using the same bike. Vinales gave the example that he was able to run 1’32s in free practice three on the hard rear but in the race his best was a 1’32.741 set on lap 25 - for the early part he was in the mid to late 1’33s.

“Problem is that we don’t have a clear explanation. I went from making a lap record to being a cone on the track for the other riders. So, it’s very difficult as a rider to believe and to continue motivated because what more can I do?” said Vinales, speaking at the track.

“Do I need to change my riding style 70 times in one weekend to make the bike work? Then the race arrives and I have the same problems. It’s difficult. I don’t really want to be saying all the time ‘the bike is not working’.

“The bike is what it is, we have these problems. I need to get used to that and don’t get too enthusiastic when I do that kind of qualifying.”

“About the hard, yesterday I did 1’32.1s on the hard and this morning, it was 19 degrees on track and I was able to make 1’33.1s, with very used hard tyre.

“The tyre for me was the correct choice because I had something more than the rest in the practice, also in FP4, and also in FP1. I don’t know, it’s something related to the bike for sure.

There is a test tomorrow where Vinales will be able to make some more evaluations and try to find a solution.

“It’s quite frustrating that I can practice so good, and then arrive to the race and the bike is not working,” he added. “So, I don’t know. Now we have test, more of the same as usual: super grip in the test, everything works well and then in the race I’ll have the same problem.”