After dominating the winter tests and winning the first two races of the season, Maverick Vinales clearly appeared as THE favorite for the 2017 world title.
But in competition, nothing is ever written in advance and the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider subsequently experienced a much less prosperous period, even going so far as to fall in the race at Assen.
Friday, at the end of the first day of free practice, Maverick Vinales was clearly in difficulty and made no secret of it. His press release in the form of a rant was quite explicit on the subject...
On Saturday, things went a little better, but qualifying seventh could not fully satisfy someone for whom the world title undoubtedly remains the objective to achieve this year. He also declared that he wanted to prepare a new configuration for the Warm up the next day (see here).
After the race, the native of Figueras admitted that this configuration was in fact based overall on the chassis and the settings successfully chosen by Valentino Rossi.
A judicious strategy since at the end of a race conducted more than honorably after having finished in 13th position at the exit of the Pit lane, the Spanish driver reached the third step of the podium, just in front of his unfortunate teammate.
Maverick Vinales : “This weekend was difficult. Going on slicks would have been too risky. I was comfortable on the wet tires, but I didn't know when I should stop, so I waited one more lap. I felt good at the end of the race and I'm delighted to have regained my feeling from the start of the season. I used settings close to those of Valentino on Saturday as well as the new chassis. I am very happy. This is the best we could do today. The goal was to be on the podium and we achieved it. We struggled a lot during this weekend, so for a difficult weekend, finishing third is a good result. We had to be on the podium if we want to win the title. »
Do you think you came home at the right time?
" A bit late ! But anyway, I came in at the same time as Dani and other riders did, so it was a good result. »
The track dried out very quickly and, at one point, it was impossible to stay on the wet tires...
" Exactly. It dried really really quickly. Maybe it was important to stop a little early but, like I said, this is the first flag to flag race that I've finished on the podium, so it's going to give me a lot of experience. »
You are 14 points behind Marc in the championship and we are heading towards Austria which is favorable terrain for the Ducatis. What do you expect next weekend?
“I think we first have to find good feelings and then we can think about victory. It is very important to have a good feeling and a good weekend, and to go for victory on Sunday. Its very important. »
This weekend was mourned by the death of Ángel Nieto. Did you dedicate your podium to him?
“Definitely the all-Spanish podium was for him today, because he was one of the best, a legend, so of course every rider dedicated their podium to Ángel today. »
