Maverick Vinales says Yamaha is “coming” after improvements to the bike's electronics allowed to him to challenge for pole and finish second during Austin's MotoGP weekend.
Vinales struggled for pace on the 2018 YZR-M1 during the pre-season, problems in setting up the electronics causing him traction issues in cornering and under acceleration.
A breakthrough in the season-opener in Qatar saw him run race-winning pace, though a poor qualifying meant he could only manage sixth, while a similar issue in Argentina, despite further improvements, left him fifth.
Building on the progress made with the electronics in Argentina last weekend in Texas and happier with the bike, Vinales feels his season “is going to start” when he is able to try “really big, different” set-up ideas at an upcoming two-day test at Jerez.
“Well a motorcycle , it's one piece; if it's missing something the rider cannot push as he wants,” Vinales, who is now five points off the championship lead in third, said when asked where the bike has improved.
“The small changes we did give me the chance to push a little bit more the bike, to feel more confident on the bike and to improve the bike lap-by-lap, trying to understand better.
“But we did a big improvement on the electronics, we have to continue.
“As I said, looks like my season gonna start when I have two days full test where I can push at the maximum and we can try really big, different things, because on the weekend's it's difficult to try new things, even more if it's wet/dry.”
Vinales says the changes to the electronics have given him better acceleration, and he is able ride in the aggressive manner that took him to three wins last year.
“As I said in Argentina, we need much more power in the beginning [acceleration], try to ride a bit more aggressive, close to what I ride like last year, pushing more the bike.
“It's something I couldn't do all the pre-season, be a little bit more like my style. But seems to be getting better and better, more my style, and with this new bike it seems to work.
“So we have to keep it like that, we know we can improve still quite a lot and it's important to see how in Europe it works.
“But I'm actually really happy, the last 10 laps of the race has been great, so we need to keep focusing like that.”
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