After a dazzling start to the season and a meteoric debut on Yamaha, Maverick fell for the second time this year on a circuit that did not suit his Yamaha at all. Jerez's ordeal began again, at home in Spain, on a Catalan track just as bumpy and in poor condition as the Andalusian one.
Vinales barely managed to save the points for tenth place, but Andrea Dovizioso's double only gave him a seven-point lead over the Italian. It is undeniable that things need to be straightened out, but in Barcelona we had the impression that the Movistar Yamaha team did not know in which direction to go.
Vinales' qualification in ninth position was not disastrous, with many having ended up starting from the third row in the past. But Maverick's flight was close to disaster and he only moved to sixteenth position at the end of the first lap. All that remained was to save the furniture by scoring as many points as possible.
Vinales doubled Andrea Iannone, then gained a place with the breakage of Aleix Espargaro. He then passed Scott Redding, then advanced one place with the fall of Jack Miller. He then remained in twelfth position for a long time, then managed to get the better of Cal Crutchlow. He doubled Hector Barbera, but he passed it again shortly after. Petrucci's fall ultimately allowed him to finish tenth, 24 seconds behind Dovizioso, a significant gap considering the fact that the leaders had a modest pace to conserve their tires.
Looks like tire problems for # MV25 ????#CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/A8F7LFfi8Y
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) June 11, 2017
For Maverick Vinales, “ It was a very difficult day, but there are some days when you just have to score points and that's what we did. Tenth place was the best we could get.
“Of course it's not our normal place, but for today it was the best and we have to be happy with the six points we took and at least we are still first in the championship. We will continue to work hard to achieve a better result in the next races. »
For his team manager Massimo Meregalli, “We expected today's race to be particularly difficult for us, as we encountered difficulties in all sessions. We knew that in such circumstances like today, with the hot weather and the low-grip asphalt, our bike is not as competitive as we have seen in other races.
“Eighth and tenth are not exactly what we were looking for, but they are valuable points for the championship and now we put this race in our archives and focus on the next races. It's good that we stay in Montmeló for tomorrow's test, then we will be able to get immediate feedback on the new materials that our engineers have developed.
“They have brought two new frames with the aim of improving the performance of the bike in situations like today and we will soon return to the top step of the podium. »
Race ranking:
1- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
2- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 3.544
3- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 6.774
4- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 9.608
5- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 13.838
6- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 13.921
7- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 16.763
8- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 20.821
9- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 23.952
10- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 24.189
11- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 28.329
12- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 33.281
13- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 35.200
14- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 39.436
15- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 40.872
16- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 43.221
17- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 44.655
18- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 48.993
19- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 55.492
World Championship :
1 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 111 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 104
3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 88
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 84
5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 83
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 75
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 59
8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 51
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 45
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 42
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 34
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 33
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 30
14 Loris BAZ-Ducati 23
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 21
16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 21
17 Tito RABAT-Honda 19
18 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17
19 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 11
20 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 7
21 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7
22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 6
23 Bradley SMITH-KTM 6
24 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 2
25 Sylvain GUINTOLI-Suzuki 1
Photo © Yamaha
