MotoGP Test Qatar 2 J2 Viñales (Yamaha/1): “we think the bike is ready”

The Yamaha official Viñales, and eldest in the factory team since the departure of Valentino Rossi, this time did not want to let the spotlight be stolen in the hunt for the one-lap time by the newcomer in his box Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman fired a round at the end of this fourth day in Qatar, successfully, but the Spaniard responded, just like Franco Morbidelli. With three M1s in the lead, Iwata's brand could be jubilant. But we are still far from that...

Finishing at the top of a day spent grinding down the Losail track is always good for morale and gives you reason to go and rest at the hotel with a feeling of accomplishment. The guarantee of a restful sleep before doing it again for one last time this Friday. But this is not enough to have certainty about the outcome of a competition which will begin at the end of March.

On what still remains a good performance, Maverick Vinales comments: “ I feel good with the bike. This is the most important thing “, he stressed. “ I also have the feeling that the last laps for the tires are always good. We'll see because it's always different in racing. But we stay positive because we think the bike is ready. It is the most important ».

Driver performance Yamaha à losail, both on a fast lap and in terms of pace, encourage us to consider the M1 among the favorites for the opening of the MotoGP in Qatar. fabio quartararo fears, however, that the meeting will offer less good grip conditions, which would make life complicated for the M1s. “ We will see, we are working very hard on this aspect ", said Casa Particular in Viñales. " Of course, you never know until there is traction. This is the difficulty. But we work hard and keep our positive attitude ". It will be recalled that Jack Miller reported on Wednesday that racing after the Moto2 riders had put their Dunlop tires on the track always made things tricky in terms of grip...

 Viñales worked on his departure procedure

The Spaniard's hopes rest mainly on the new chassis, but he returns to this story of general grip on the track which is a real subject at Yamaha , on the tightrope in the circumstances: “ the track has an incredible level of grip, so you can't tell if we would be ready for a no-grip situation. As you can see, the lap times are super fast », Analyzes the 26-year-old driver on the timesheet. “ We're also very curious to see how things go with less grip. We have a very good feeling here at the moment, the lap times are very easy for us. We will see if we can achieve this performance and be at the top even with less grip. ".

Casa Particular in Viñales also works harder on the startup process on test days: “ we are trying to improve. It's difficult because we also have to improve mechanically, not just how we start. It's also a matter of clutch. We try a lot of new things. We are improving step by step, but we are not yet where we want to be. So we will try again on Friday ". A Friday which will be the last day of this 2021 offseason...

MotoGP Test Qatar 2 J2: time