Maverick Vinales says he just wants to 'pass the final races' as quickly as possible, after enduring a torrid MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix in which he was only 10th.
Yamaha's failure to win on Sunday sees the Iwata firm enter its longest losing streak in its entire premier class history, with 23 races passing since its last win, as problems with the M1's electronics continue to plague both Vinales and teammate Valentino Rossi.
Vinales felt Yamaha had turned a corner at a recent test at Misano, and felt his lack of form last time out did not show the team's true “potential”, though could only manage 10th at Aragon after qualifying 11th (but starting 14th due to a penalty).
The Spaniard blamed his loss in form on a lack of “rhythm” on the hard rear tyre, despite lapping competitively on that compound in FP4, and felt as if he was racing with “used tyres”.
“No, the rhythm was gone, I don't understand very well,” Vinales said.
“In FP4, I was there with the same tyre doing 1m48s. In the race it was nearly impossible, looks like I was riding with really used tyres, the bike works zero in the beginning of the race.
“So [now I] just [want to] pass the races and try to start the next season. I'm disappointed about how things are going.
“I'll just go home, try to relax, and start thinking about the next race. The rhythm wasn't there, though we had it in FP4 – on the same tyres we were doing 1'48s, but in the race it wasn't possible”
Teammate Rossi qualified 18th after a mistake on his out-lap, but managed to ride up to eighth with a late move on Pramac's Jack Miller.
Rossi says Yamaha “tried working in another way” with the bike ahead of the race, and admits his pace late on was “better than expected” even if it still “wasn't particularly fast”.
“We also modified the bike a lot, we tried working in another way,” Rossi explained.
“Already from the morning I tried to feel a little bit better, so my feeling with the bike improved and we could make some adjustments for the race.
“The end of the race was better than what I expected, because I wasn't particularly fast, but my pace was consistent.
“I was able to recover a lot of positions – because I started from the back of the grid – to take some points for the championship.
“From one point of view, it's better than it was on Saturday, but from another, our technical situation is quite difficult, because we have to fight to the maximum to be inside the top 10 at the moment.”
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