Austin, MotoGP, J1: Maverick Viñales at full speed

Maverick Vinales finished the first day of the Grand Prix of the Americas in the lead. Which is not nothing on an Austin track where Marc Márquez has reigned supreme since 2013. It now remains for the Yamaha official to confirm in order to hope to disrupt the Honda rider. Suffice to say that the hardest part remains to be done.

Maverick Vinales achieved the best time on Friday in Austin, so the Spaniard on the Yamaha got off to a good start in Texas. At least Friday, Marc Marquez, king of Austin, was dethroned. Maverick Vinales was 0,044 seconds faster than the Repsol Honda rider after the first two free practice sessions.

« I have to go full throttle! “, commented the Yamaha rider. “ It's very bumpy, much more so than last year. Suddenly you discover a series of waves. Especially between the eighth and ninth turns, like in 2018, but now we have big waves. Turn 2 is also very hilly. The track is changing, but fortunately the grip is better than last year. The track is cleaner. Last year it was very dirty ».

The M1 seems to work on the many bumps of the “Circuit of the Americas” since Valentino Red is the second Yamaha factory rider in the top 3. “ The bike is very, very nervous. It's difficult ”, however declared Casa Particular in Viñales. " Physically it is difficult to ride on the track, but I am generally good on difficult tracks. I didn't suffer much from it. Maybe I'm strong », smiles the Spaniard, looking for an explanation for his performance. Is it because he likes motocross? “ No » he laughed. “ It's totally different from MotoGP ».

« I really like America, it's one of my favorite weekends. I wish they could do something about the bumps. The good thing about this track is that there are fast and slow sections, it's all there. So if you can be fast here, you can be fast anywhere. Without the bumps it would be amazing, but for me it's okay. I can still fly. Turn 18 is the most dangerous for me. With all these bumps it is very easy to highside. The straight line is also very bumpy, the bike steers. I don't stiffen my arms, it's okay ».

Casa Particular in Viñales continues: “ I would like to improve the slow turns, especially the exit. We haven't sorted out the electronics yet. I'm quite happy because we are competitive, but we still have to improve, it's important. For me the bike feels really good in fast corners, I can pick up a lot of speed, it's very good. I also think we brake better than in Argentina. One of my areas of work on Saturday will certainly be to improve the braking phase and electronics as well as corner exit from slow corners ».

The Spaniard also wants to work on his driving style: “ I have to put more weight on the tire to get more grip. We are improving. I try to change the acceleration a little ". Let all this be enough to prevent Márquez to achieve the seventh consecutive victory in Texas, the Yamaha star is not sure: “ it will be so difficult to fight with him here. We're fast, but it's never easy. I'm going to push as hard as I can to bring the bike to its maximum. If we can get the most out of the bike maybe we'll be there, but in racing you never know ».

After the start of the season in Qatar, when Casa Particular in Viñales took pole position and finished in seventh place, he had cited poor line choice as one of the reasons for his disappointment. He hadn't driven any races. How does the case look in Texas? “ Overtaking seems a little easier here. I can do better than Qatar. There was only one line in Qatar. Here you can drive different lines, it's easier ».