Maverick Vinales says the “perfect” feeling he had with his Yamaha at Aragon during a recent test disappeared for MotoGP practice on Friday, and says the test data proved “not useful”.
Tests at Misano and Aragon either side of the British Grand Prix weekend heralded a small breakthrough for Vinales, with changes to the bike's troubled electronics allowing him to utilise his riding style more.
Despite a mystifying loss of form during the Misano race after a strong weekend, Vinales admitted he was “really happy” with his feeling on the bike, and was confident a strong test at Aragon would allow him to be fast come practice.
However, Vinales ended the day 10th on the combined standings and 1.2 seconds off of pacesetter Marc Marquez on the Honda.
Vinales says the circuit is “much better” than it was at the test, but that the settings he used then are “not working” now, and this has left his M1 with “zero grip”.
“I think the track is much better than when we were here last for testing,” he said.
“I don't know why, but the bike is not working the same way as it was back then. We have to keep working, stay patient, and try to do our best.
“We've kept the setting completely the same, but it's not working. We have zero grip on the rear tyre, that's the feeling I have, and the tyres look very damaged when I return to the garage.
“During the test we could do 30 laps on each tyre and it was perfect. We're trying to figure out what the problem is, but it's difficult.
“So, the test was not very useful for today – I feel very different out on track, but I myself am feeling really good, it's just that the bike is working differently.”
Marquez followed Vinales for a brief time in FP2 and branded the Yamaha man's woes as "strange", as he felt the bike was accelerating "well" and Vinales was riding strongly – though admits he did spot some weak points.
“Yeah, today in beginning of FP2 I was following Vinales, and it's strange because the acceleration is good, is there," said Marquez.
"He was riding in a good way, but the laptime didn't come. So, I see a few weak points on his bike, but I will not say. They need to find, my bike was working well."
Vinales' teammate Valentino Rossi endured a similarly tough Friday at Aragon, with the Italian just a place ahead of the Spaniard on the timesheets and just over a second off the pace.
“It's very important to stay inside the top 10, because it will be a difficult weekend, as historically we always suffer more here than in Misano," Rossi added.
“Already there our performance wasn't fantastic. The problem here is also that, although I'm inside the top 10, the gap to the front is big.
“So it will be hard, we have to stay concentrated and try to work in all the areas on all the small details, and try to make the result as good as possible.”
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