Little by little, the situation becomes tense for Maverick Vinales. Dominator of the winter tests and winner of the first two races of the year, the title of world champion seemed to await him with open arms.
But in competition things are rarely so obvious, and the Assen chicane caused the young Spanish driver to lose leadership.
The Sachsenring and its weather do not seem any easier for the number 25 at the moment since he will only start from 11th position on the starting grid, following a complicated qualification in the wet.
Between a weather that Maverick Vinales ardently wishes to be dry, and a new chassis which does not seem to suit him perfectly, the Movistar Yamaha rider will have to count on clement skies, work until the night and an all-out attack to be able to perform tomorrow a nice “comeback”…
Maverick Vinales : “I feel quite confident in the dry but, unfortunately, we were not able to improve the settings in the wet this afternoon. I felt pretty strong on the brakes and had good cornering speed, but I suffered from not having enough traction when accelerating out of corners. If tomorrow is dry, I hope to make a good start and I will push to be at the limit every lap, and I will try to be on the podium, which will be very important. Either be on the podium or even try to win: we have to stay open-minded. If it's wet tomorrow, we will continue to try to improve the bike and manage the situation as best we can. »
Massimo Meregalli : “The day started very positively during the FP3 session, when Vale and Maverick both had a good feeling. We had already noticed during FP4 that the feeling in the wet was not as good as it was in the dry. Valentino started the qualifying session well, but couldn't really get the feeling he was looking for with the wet conditions. When the track started to dry towards the end, he made the right choice to change the tires and moved up to ninth place. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time left for him to make another pass, as his potential is higher than his position on the grid. The same goes for Maverick. The pace he showed during FP3 this morning clearly indicates that he is one of the fastest men on track in dry conditions. We will work until the night to try to find a solution to give both drivers a better feeling in the wet. We must try to make the best use of the information we have gathered during today's sessions. »
Qualification results:
1- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’27.302
2- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.160
3- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 0.647
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.787
5- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.908
6- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.081
7- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 1.100
8- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 1.224
9- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 + 1.367
10- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.401
11- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.380
12- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.525
13- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
14- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
15- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
16- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR
17- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
18- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
19- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
20- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
21- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP
22- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR
23- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
24- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
