“It’s fast!” Maverick Vinales felt good “from the out lap” on KTM MotoGP debut

Maverick Vinales began his quest to become the first MotoGP rider to win on four different brands of bike with a KTM debut at Tuesday’s Barcelona test.

The Spaniard, a ten-time race winner across Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia machinery, was also completing his first laps as a satellite rider, at the Tech3 team.

The first impression was positive.

“I started the day with no expectations. Trying to be very open-minded. But straight away, even on the out lap, the feeling was positive. Everything comes very naturally,” Vinales said.

“Obviously, there are still many things I need to understand and integrate in my riding style. But the feeling was good. We didn't test too much. I just asked to have Pedro’s set up and try to ride and understand the bike.”

Vinales was as high as fourth on the timesheets during the middle stages of the day, before being pushed down to 12th.

He was one second from test leader Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and just 0.3s behind the quickest KTM of Brad Binder.

“I don't see any problem for the moment, but for sure I didn't arrive at the limit of the bike,” Vinales said. “So I prefer to stay quiet for now and try to first of all arrive at the limit and then start to really understand what is missing.

“But I didn't see any ‘wall’. Every time I went out, I went faster and faster.”

Vinales, the only rider to defeat Ducati in a grand prix this season, courtesy of his COTA victory, added:

“What I like about the bike, and this is something very positive for my riding style, is the way you exit the corner. So let's say that the earlier you pick up, the earlier you go.

“This is fantastic for my riding style. Because I pick up very early the bike. And you always have power pushing you out of the corner.

“Brakes, still I need to understand a little bit more the bike but it seems quite stable. But when I try to force the slide, I still need to understand how much front brake I can use in different phases.

“The only thing I was concerned about [before the test] was the fast corners, because I've been fast with all the other bikes. But on paper, all those bikes were good for the fast corners.

“But this one I like a lot for the fast corners, like 13-14 becomes very natural and with a lot of corner speed.”

As Vinales found out, the RC16, which beat Aprilia’s RS-GP for second in the constructors’ standings behind Ducati this season, isn’t only quick in the turns.

The Spaniard set the highest top speed of the test at 354km/h while “riding alone”, compared with a 352.9km/h for Aprilia during the grand prix weekend.

“It's fast. It's the first thing I felt!” Vinales said. “Also the exit is good, traction and as I mentioned, as soon as you pick up, the bike pushes out of the corner. But it’s fast: 3rd, 4th, 5th it’s fast.”

The other stand-out attribute of the orange machine is it’s starting ability.

“Now I understand why I lost so many positions [this season],” Vinales said after three practice starts on Tuesday. “It's OK, I will have it next year. So it’s fantastic.”

Compared to the ‘heavy’ downforce of the RS-GP, the KTM felt “very light. I mean it's physical, but not that much. The way you change direction is easier.”

The unique features of the KTM are its carbon fibre (rather than aluminium) chassis and use of WP (rather than Ohlins) suspension.

“The feeling was good from the first braking. I mean, I was expecting to be a bit ‘well, we’ll see…’ but thumbs up for the suspension,” he said.

That includes “the rear device, it’s really good. The way it goes down is very nice and smooth, so it didn't make the tyre spin, so that's fantastic.”

After eleven years as a factory rider, Vinales is confident he will relish the family atmosphere at Tech3, where rookie Pedro Acosta claimed five podiums and led 13 grand prix laps this season.

“Good feeling, good atmosphere. I think, and believe, we can create a really strong group,” Vinales said. “This is a family. It's what I feel with the mechanics between them. And probably it’s the feeling I need.”

“We didn't touch the bike too much. Clear adjustments. But I really wanted to take Pedro's bike and ride it until I go fast,” Vinales said.

“I also worked a little bit with Dani [Pedrosa] and Pol [Espargaro] trying to understand where I need to push the bike, where I need to be more gentle. It was a nice experience, to work with them.”

Vinales’ team-mate Enea Bastianini, joining from Ducati, was 16th fastest (+1.269s), after returning from a heavy fall at Turn 5.

The next official MotoGP test will be at Sepang in February.