Work done last week in Misano around the front end of his Movistar Factory Yamaha YZR-M1 has helped Maverick Vinales as he finished the opening day of MotoGP free practice third fastest overall.
After an awful first half to 2018, both Vinales and Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi were in action last week attempting to find a remedy for their troublesome M1’s.
“I would say that after this first day we are at a good level, maybe not the maximum yet, but it is definitely an outstanding start,” said Vinales.
“I found various bumps on the track, but the situation is better than in 2017.
“My goal is to have fun on the bike and after Misano, I had positive sensations. The pace is good. We need to take a few steps forward, but I am satisfied.
“I think that there was a significant improvement on Sunday and now I am able to be as aggressive as I would like to be.
“We took a step forward with the front end. That lets me be more effective on the flying lap. However, we need to be more precise in order to fully exploit the M1’s acceleration.”
One of the biggest issues that both Vinales and Rossi have been complaining about is that of the electronics on the Yamaha. Despite this, Vinales said that they didn’t work on that in Misano.
“We didn’t focus on that. More than anything, we focused on confidence with the bike and the front end. If I didn’t have this confidence, it would be impossible to be fast,” he said.