During this weekend in Assen, some will play their championship and others their career. Among the latter, we find a Maverick Viñales who we did not imagine falling so low since his resounding victory during the first round in Qatar. But that's the way today's MotoGP goes, where 14s on the winner like at the Sachsenring at the finish puts you dead last...
Maverick Vinales made an impression at Yamaha during the German Grand Prix, but not in a good way... Last in qualifying and in the same position in the race, he seemed to disavow his employer who had just changed authority to his chief mechanic. The pilot even openly wondered if he was still respected in the box struck by tuning forks. A week later, here he is Assen, a route that he dominated in 2019, the year in which the last edition of the Dutch Grand Prix. This is the opportunity or never to get back on track... Otherwise, it would be a resounding disaster before the summer break.
We will therefore have to be in warrior mode to Casa Particular in Viñales But listening to him during his press conference, there is already reason to worry… “ Honestly, it's hard to understand this moment. In Assen, I will try to understand the bike and the sensations I have on the M1, as well as the tires, which will be different from those of the Sachsenring “, declared the Catalan who added: “ I have never been in a situation like this, and I don't remember running like this in my entire life and that's why I said I felt a lack of respect for myself as a pilot ».
He admits : " the fact is that at the moment I don't understand anything about it. Every time I try a solution it doesn't go as expected, in fact we have many problems. What I don't understand is that I won in Qatar and now I'm suffering and struggling to find motivation. I will continue to try to work peacefully, even if in the end I don't know what we will be able to do. But I never gave up ».
Vinales: “je n’ai pas de réponse sur ce qui se passe”
Casa Particular in Viñales had commented before arriving at Assen that he would start on the basis of a 2019 configuration of the M1, in order to launch in the mode of his last victory in MotoGP on this route. But it seems that everything has been revised: “ this weekend I'm going to race copying everything Quartararo does, I'm talking about settings, electronics, suspension. The bike is identical to his and then we will see if he will be fast or not ". A situation that doesn’t suit him at all… “ The problem is that this doesn't have to be the way to run, because each pilot must work in his own way and develop according to his own feelings. The fact is that I'm losing time and confidence with the bike, so much so that I fell in Germany without even knowing why. Therefore, tomorrow I will be on the track copying everything Fabio does ».
He returns to the change of team leader… “ I got along well with Esteban and the same goes with Silvano, who is very technically competent. I'm working with him to try new things that might be useful in the future. I don't have an answer for what's going on and that's a big obstacle for me. I say this because in such a situation the main thing is to understand what the problem is and then intervene to solve it ».
« On the other hand, I don't know if I need to intervene in the electronics, the acceleration, the braking, the chassis to improve my performance. But what can he hope for in such a situation of uncertainty? “ I hope the situation will be different here. The track is very smooth, it could suit Yamaha well and therefore expect a different weekend from Germany ". Which couldn't be worse.
