Vinales plots to eradicate early lap woes

It may not have been the position he had hoped for, but Maverick Viñales appeared content to have qualified fourth for Sunday’s MotoGP outing at the Grand Prix of Catalunya. Furthermore, he has a plan to address his struggles in the early laps of premier class races.

The 23-year old hinted his recent problems in the opening five-ten laps may be related to not heating his race tyres sufficiently on the warm-up lap, leaving him with a vague feeling beneath him, which provides next to no feedback.

Coming off a disappointing eighth place at Mugello, Viñales said he was pushing “at 50 percent” early in the race, such was the lack of feel he was experiencing. Indeed, he was convinced he had crashed, suffering a massive front-end slide through the fearsome Arrabbiata corners the first time around.

But working through this weekend, the former Moto3 world champion believes his Movistar Yamaha squad may have found a cure for these woes, and is aiming to carry out a carefully formulated plan on race day.

“We understand why, and that's important,” said Viñales. “So tomorrow for sure I will approach the sighting lap and the warm up lap differently, pushing a little bit more and warming up the tyres much more. So I think it was important to know that, and let's see, let's see if with that we can solve the problem of the first laps.”

Commenting on his day as a whole, Viñales was most pleased by his pace in FP4, a session in which he also placed fourth and posted two competitive six-lap runs on a soft-soft tyre combination.

“Actually in the test there was better grip through all the track and not so hot as it was today. But anyway I'm happy, because in the test, I didn't do the rhythm that I did in FP4. So I think it was good. I'm quite confident, and let's see. We did a good job this weekend in FP2 and FP4.

“I'm suffering with front grip, especially with the qualifying. This morning, with low temperatures the grip was higher and it was a little bit easier. But in the afternoon when I attacked the corners with the soft rear and the soft front, it was a little bit tricky and a bit slippery. That's why I think we couldn't make a really good lap time.

“ I'm happy, because the bike didn't change so much this weekend, luckily, and I can push the same in all the practices. But anyway, for sure it's much better in the morning than in the afternoon, but at least in the afternoon we could prove that the bike is closer to the morning than the other races.”

Is a podium possible on Sunday? “I don't know,” he said. “There are many riders who are very strong and for sure fighting there. I'm convinced that we can do it.”