Vinales 'highly motivated' for Assen

Maverick Vinales heads into this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP at Assen in a positive frame of mind following the post-race test at Catalunya.

The young Spaniard finished a disappointing sixth in his home race in the previous round of the championship, but Vinales worked on his early race pace with a full tank of fuel in the test and the Movistar Yamaha rider says he is highly motivated for Assen.

“I’m happy because the next race is held at the amazing circuit of Assen,” said Vinales.

“We’re almost in the middle of the season and we go to the Netherlands in a good position in the championship classifications, so we must keep improving and stay concentrated to get the maximum amount of points.

“I’m happy after the Montmeló test, it was very positive for us and we had a good feeling with the bike. I think that we can be fast in the next race.

“I’m very motivated for round eight and at the same time very focused. This year we are tackling the season race by race, so let’s keep working and let’s see what happens on Sunday.”

Despite frequently expressing his frustration at a lack of race-winning pace, Vinales is third in the championship standings after seven rounds, only 11 points behind team-mate Valentino Rossi.