Currently third in the provisional World Championship standings, Maverick achieved his fourth pole position of the year in Misano, after Qatar, Le Mans and Mugello. This good performance automatically put him back in the title race, although the absence of his teammate Valentino Rossi was a disadvantage during the testing sessions because the Spaniard had to carry out the adjustment alone of the new Yamaha equipped with the chassis 2018 prototype.
Friday had already gone in a positive manner for Vinales, who took second time, just five thousandths of a second behind leader Danilo Petrucci. He retained this second position at the end of the third free practice session, 0.154 behind Marc Marquez.
The qualifying tests went sumptuously for Maverick, who resisted the onslaughts ofAndrea Dovizioso and of Marc Marquez to take first position. Only Marquez seemed to be able to resist him eventually, but the Honda driver fell (without seriousness) at the end of the session.
After three victories obtained at the start of the season in Qatar, Argentina and Le Mans, Maverick stalled a little during the following Grands Prix, then made his big return to form at Silverstone where he finished second to Andrea Dovizioso. This Misano GP will therefore be of capital importance for Vinales before the next race which will take place at home in Spain.
According to Maverick Vinales, who are " The qualification went very well. I felt good on the bike and the team did a very good job.
“Yesterday and especially this afternoon, we modified the bike a little and I felt better, so tomorrow the strategy will be to try to stay consistent, and to keep the tires at a good temperature because it is important to don't have cold tires, especially during the first few laps.
“I'm going to start first and try to drive at my own pace. I'm happy to see how things go and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I am convinced that we can have a great race.
“Of course there are many drivers who can be candidates. For tomorrow we will have to try to take another step forward, if we want to win this race.
“Hopefully there won't be any rain, but it's going to be difficult. Rain or no rain, we have to be there at the front, so it doesn't matter, we have to be strong and competitive as always.
“If it rains, you have to try the new electronics. If it's wet, I hope the warm up is also wet because we have to try so many things to build a good bike. We know the way to work for wet tracks, but I also think that the improvement we are making in the dry can also help a lot for wet conditions.
“The approach is the same as the other races, we will try to keep our pace and be strong at the end of the race. It's the same approach and we're not changing anything.
“We are four drivers quite close and it can be a group at the start, then whoever chooses the best tire option will be able to make the difference, so let's especially look at the weather tomorrow. »
For the team manager Massimo Meregalli, “Today was very productive for us and the results show it: what a sumptuous 1.32.439 for Maverick! It was well deserved, as Maverick and the team did a brilliant job yesterday and today and showed great speed throughout each session.
“He's improving every time he hits the track and taking pole at the team's second home Grand Prix of the season – for the first time since Mugello – is perfect.
“However, tomorrow's race will be long and it is likely that the conditions will be very different to what we had on the track today. We will have to keep an open mind at the start of the warm up tomorrow and adapt to whatever the weather may bring. »
🏁 #MotoGP qualifying# MV25 steals pole at the last as #MM93 crashes out!#SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/JCpJFzuZhJ
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 9, 2017
Qualification ranking:
1- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’32.439
2- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.162
3- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.197
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.329
5- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.353
6- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.446
7- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 0.553
8- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.558
9- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 0.710
10- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.978
11- Michele Pirro – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.052
12- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 1.935
13- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
14- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
15- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
16- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
17- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
18- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
19- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
20- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR
21- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR
22- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
23- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP
Reference times:
Test record: 1'31.868 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2016
Lap record: 1'32.979 by Dani Pedrosa (Honda) in 2016
Best top speed: 299,5 km/h for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 2015
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 183 points
2 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 174
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 170
4 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 157
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 148
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 109
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 90
8 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 89
9 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 77
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 75
…15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 39
