With his sixth place at Losail, Maverick Vinales stood out a little less in the Qatari spotlight than his teammate Valentino Rossi, third, 0.7 behind the winner Andrea Dovizioso. Fifth then in Argentina, Vinales stood out less than Johann Zarco who brought the first Yamaha into second position, 0.2 behind Cal Crutchlow.
But this relative discretion does not prevent Maverick from arriving in Texas occupying fourth place in the provisional general classification with 21 points, 1 more than Marc Marquez, and 17 less than leader Crutchlow. Viñales comes to the United States at the Circuit of the Americas which he considers one of his favorite circuits and is eager to put the lessons learned from his experience in Argentina to good use.
When COTA was added to the MotoGP calendar in 2013, the 18-year-old Spanish rider secured a solid second place in the Moto3 class, 0.3 behind his compatriot Alex Rins. He then took his first Moto2 victory there in 2014. It was only the second Moto2 race of his life, and he impressed very strongly, beating Tito Rabat by 4 seconds, Dominique Aegerter by 7, Mika Kallio by 8 and Tom Lüthi of 16. He dazzled a lot of people that day… including the Suzuki team!
His best result in MotoGP on the American track was fourth place, behind Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo et Andrea Iannone, in 2016. He was unable to finish his first race on a Yamaha on American soil last year, but the solid pace he showed throughout the weekend suggests he will also be a contender peak this year.
According to Maverick Vinales, who are " We arrive in Austin in a position from which we can work on improving the bike. It's the third race and we can't afford any mistakes.
“We must fight for victory with all our might. I don't have good memories of last year here because I unfortunately crashed at the start of the race, so this year I'm determined to stay in the lead throughout the race, and especially to be able to get on the podium.
“I really like COTA because the track is incredible, so I will try to give 100% and make the most of the GP. »
For the Team Director Massimo Meregalli, who are " As a team, we are looking forward to moving on from a disappointing finish to the weekend in Argentina.
“The COTA track is a great place to do it. Our team really enjoys spending time in Austin, because the atmosphere is always fantastic.
“The circuit layout is not the best for Yamaha, but last year Valentino emphasized once again that good results and podiums are within our reach here.
“Maverick is also a fan of the track and he too is no stranger to the Texas podium. He has already moved up there twice in the lower classes.
“Our drivers are both in great shape, so we are fully motivated to get started! »
Photos and illustrations © Yamaha
