Maverick Vinales says that the work done during last weeks test in Barcelona helped him today as he ended the first day in Mugello second fastest overall, nearly four tenths behind the fastest time of the day.
The Spaniard has said that the work on a set-up, which was done in Barcelona last week, has helped improve the feeling between his Yamaha YZR-M1 and the Michelin tyres.
“We have made the tyres work in a different way and it is better for me that way,” said Vinales, who currently sits second in the World Championship.
“I am quite light so the bike needs to be different to Valentino and Johann as I think that their weight is different to mine. Actually today I felt really good, there is still some problems we can improve but it is much better than at other races with the confidence and with the work we’ve been doing between the morning and the afternoon.”
Vinales said that the biggest change made between the opening stages in the season and now is a shortening of the bike, which has helped the Spaniards feel on the bike.
“Basic set-up, which is totally different. The bike is a little bit shorter and I feel better,” he said.
Suffering an early crash during FP1, the 23-year-old took all of the blame, admitting he tried pushing too hard, too quickly with cold brakes the reason for the spill.
“I crashed on lap zero! It was totally my mistake, I wanted to push from the beginning and the brakes were not hot enough so the bike didn’t brake enough so I went wide,” Vinales said. “I didn’t give up and tried to make the corner but it was totally my mistake.”