Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales is not obsessed by the perceived head-to-head with reigning MotoGP Champion and points leader Marc Marquez but the Repsol Honda man believes his compatriot is under to pressure to perform at Silverstone this weekend.
“Maverick will race with the mentality that he has to win: a win or a win, there is no other option. He clinched his first MotoGP victory on the British soil last year with Suzuki and on Sunday he will take the start with a winning approach,” said Marquez on the eve of the British GP.
On the paper, Vinales should be the favourite and he needs to win. In Germany, Marquez had to win because of his record there. In Austria, Andrea Dovizioso really wanted that win to avenge the 2016 runner-up spot and to keep the championship open. At Silverstone it is Vinales’ turn under the cosh.
“I’m really motivated and calm at the same time, strong of the fact that this is a track where I can do well,” said Vinales. “We need to win and not only at Silverstone. My mentality hasn’t changed. We need to work well, give the maximum and try to win in every circuit.”
Fans expect a head-to-head fight between the two Spaniards who have been rivals since they were kids, although there is a two year difference in age, Marquez being the elder.
“I’m not obsessed by a head-to-head battle with Marc,” commented Vinales. “If there will be a battle, it means that we are there fighting at the top. My target is to finish on the podium every weekend and if it is possible, try to win.”
The British GP also marks two-thirds distance in the championship with four riders having led the championships and five who are in the title chase. Vinales currently lies third in the championship, 24 behind the reigning world champion.
“What I really want is a good weekend as we used to do at the beginning of the season, from Friday to Sunday. Everything went well and seemed easy, then we started to struggle. In the Misano test last Sunday we worked a lot on the electronics and the feeling was good. The bike was working well, but it’s true that there was a lot of grip, so I cannot say if we solved the problems.”
“I’m completely focused on my side of the garage. We all want to win and we are working to re-gain the good feeling we had at the beginning of the season. At that time everything came out easily and I hope that the last test in Misano will help us to find this feeling again.
“We suffered more than others the drop of the tyre. I always had a good confidence with the front tyre, while we couldn’t find the way with the hard rear tyre. We suffered a lot when there was not so much grip, while at the beginning of the season the tyres had a lot of grip. I could even to the fast lap at the end of race. We had to change the whole bike to adjust to the bike”.
The Yamaha rider did start the race weekend at Silverstone on the right foot topping the lap times in the FP1 and finishing FP2 third two-tenths behind Cal Crutchlow, who was fastest.
