Vinales: Our mind changed a lot

Maverick Vinales heads for his home Spanish MotoGP just five points from the title lead and feeling far more comfortable with the more 'aggressive' set-up on his Movistar Yamaha.

Stiffer settings combined with lower electronic controls helped Vinales collect his first podium of the season last time out in Austin.

"After the podium in Austin I can say that I'm happy overall, our mind changed a lot during the last races," he said. "Now we are focused on the next race in Jerez, we are very motivated and positive, and this is good to recover again the feeling that we had last year at the beginning of the season."

The biggest test of the new M1 set-up will come this weekend, at a circuit where Vinales' 2017 title campaign began to unravel.

"Last year Jerez was a difficult race for me. I suffered a lot because we had some issues with the front tyre, but now we have more information to be even stronger than in the last weeks, so we will work hard during this GP to be on the podium again," said Vinales, sixth last season and 25s from race winner Dani Pedrosa.

"The new asphalt of the circuit has grip, so I'm quite positive. I can't wait to be at the Circuito de Jerez; one of my home GPs in Spain, and a track that I really like - I enjoy riding there. We will go for the win and we‘ll push for it. The support of the fans will help me to do the rest."

Vinales and team-mate Valentino Rossi are among the few riders not to have tested on the new Jerez asphalt.