At the start of the season, he is undoubtedly a MotoGP rider who will perhaps have more pressure than the others. He won't be called Marc Márquez who will have to defend his title or Jorge Lorenzo who will begin his Ducati bet. But rather Maverick Vinales who set things on fire by making sparks from his first laps with the Yamaha. A spotlight that Iwata's team is not the last to do if we judge by the latest comments from Massimo Meregalli.
The man comes out of a long collaboration with Jorge Lorenzo and is just beginning his relationship with Vinales. But at the microphone of crash.net, he shares his certainties. Including this one: the new 22-year-old recruit is already ready to fight for the title in 2017: “ my assessment is based on the last two tests » specifies the Italian. “ And I can tell you that he is ready. I know that two tests are short to reach this conclusion, but I assure you that he is ready ».
A conviction that he develops: “ he's fast, he's calm, and he's smart about finding the things he likes on the bike. He was able to find his sensations in half a day on a motorcycle he didn't know ».
« The way he gives information to the team is also very safe. He impressed me. And he took the same direction as that of Valentino Rossi ". An osmosis that will be important for Yamaha engineers. Sure, but the pressure? “ In my opinion, he will be able to deal with it. It doesn't seem like he feels it. In Valencia, he got on the bike that had allowed Jorge to win and he was immediately fast. I can't wait to see what happens next and I'm very optimistic ».
We will recall that Vinales assures that he likes to feel the pressure which he manages to recycle into motivation. For Lynn Jarvis, the boss of the three tuning forks in the field, Yamaha could not dream of a better pair of riders. On January 30, MotoGP will make its official return to Sepang for the first tests of the year.
