Vinales won his third podium of the season in Japan on his Suzuki after his third place at Le Mans and his victory in Great Britain. A great performance which was however decided late during a race spent fighting his teammate Aleix Espargaró in a state of grace. But the future Yamaha official had a strategy, that of wearing it down. Which worked.
The Spaniard explains: “ I didn't start well and when I found myself seventh, I decided to keep my tires. The idea was to push at the end of the race. And this choice was the right one. I was really fast in the last ten laps. I caught up with Aleix and wasted time trying to pass him. I made mistakes by trying to attack him too quickly. He responded and we fell behind those in front ».
« But it is okay. We struggled in qualifying and we solved some of our problems. We are now going to Australia with optimism. What we saw here is not our limit, we want more. I thank my team for the work accomplished.i”. This third place combined with the package of Pedrosa now puts Vinales in fourth place in the championship with a ten-point advantage over the Honda official who had collarbone surgery. Lorenzo’s third place is 17 points away…
