Vinales: Lot of overtaking, lot of contact...

Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales overcame the problems that had been hindering his early pace to clinch his first podium result since Austin in the Dutch TT at Assen.

Vinales has been struggling on a full tank in the early laps of his races but the Spaniard was much stronger on Sunday and rallied in the closing stages of the race to challenge for the runner-up spot.

He lost his chance of second place after running wide when Alex Rins went underneath him on the final lap, but Vinales finished the race as the top Yamaha rider in third.

“It was a nice race and unluckily I went out on the last lap (wide off the track) and I could not fight for the win, but anyway I’m happy and we recovered a lot of confidence in the weekend,” he said.

“Especially we worked really well for the race, still the bike needs to improve, especially on the electronics, but it was good to be with the fast guys today because I know the point to improve; I think our bike is on a good level, on chassis we are really good and in the fast corners I felt great.

“With the electronics, we are coming in a good way but still there is a lot of work to do so I’m happy that we were there, even if the bike is not at the maximum yet.”

Vinales said his team focused on ensuring his factory M1 was set-up to enable him to run a fast pace at the beginning of the race and the 23-year-old was satisfied the approach paid off.

“For sure, I felt good with the full tank – even better than the last laps of the race because it was difficult; we prepared the bike for the first laps and it was nice to feel strong at the beginning, to overtake many riders – a lot of contact – but I think it was a good move and I can’t wait to be in the next race,” Vinales said.

“I think the track helped a lot, it’s a good track for me and I know how to go fast here in Assen, but anyway I hope the problem got fixed and still on the electronics we need to work a lot.

“The way we worked this weekend was the correct one, working a lot for the race, not for one lap; usually we are faster in qualifying and here it was totally the opposite, so we need to keep working like that and hopefully in the summer break Yamaha can bring something big and we can have the chance to fight for the title.”