Maverick Viñales was back at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Monday to try out new components for his Yamaha YZR-M1.
The Yamaha Factory rider was able to evaluate new electronics and a new exhaust, both intended to make acceleration smoother, as well as new prototype Michelin tires. In the last minutes, he was in 1st position in the timesheets.
After an abrupt end to his home race on Sunday in which he got off to a good start, Maverick Viñales was eager to get back on his bike. His goal on Monday was to find improvement in acceleration. He focused on this task for most of the session, but couldn't help but attack at the very end. The Spaniard completed a total of 98 laps and set the best time of the day, 138.967, on his last attempt. He was the only rider to go under the 1'39 mark and finished 0.047s ahead of another Yamaha, that of Franco Morbidelli.
Following Monday's progress, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team will evaluate the data obtained in preparation for the Motul TT Assen which will be held in two weeks.
Maverick Vinales : “I am very satisfied with the test, not because of the time, but because of the way we managed this test, because it was important to try a lot of things. The whole team worked hard and we changed many parts of the bike. Finishing at the top is important for us, as it is for the mechanics who worked very hard today. But the most important thing is that I had a very good feeling on the bike and we will see if we can maintain this momentum, which we had here in Barcelona, in the next race in Assen. We changed the bike settings a lot because we think we found an area here that helped us for the race, and it seemed to work, so we'll continue to work in that direction and get more confidence on the bike . The reactions to the new Michelin tires are good. The grip of the tires is good, so I was able to do some very good laps, and I hope they bring these tires in the future, because, for our bike, it will help a lot. But for now, it's 2019 and we continue to improve race by race ».
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Massimo Meregalli : “After the unlucky end to the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, it is important to get straight back into the saddle, with the same motivation that we always have. Today's weather and track conditions were similar to previous days, which gave us the opportunity to compare our test results with the data we collected over the weekend. Our main goal was to evaluate the new electronics, retest the exhaust, and improve the smoothness of acceleration. Both drivers mainly focused on this goal. They liked some parts more than others, but overall they gave a positive review. They are particularly excited about the new Michelin rear tire prototypes. Maverick had time to attack at the end and finished at the top of the timesheets, but the feeling on the bike in general is the most important today. As both riders feel good on the bike, we are confident for the next race in two weeks ».
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
