Vinales: Suzuki looked 'most complete'

First KTM's Pol Espargaro tipped Suzuki to be the 'revelation' of the 2020 MotoGP season and now Monster Yamaha's Maverick Vinales has labelled the GSX-RR as perhaps the most 'complete' bike on the grid.

Vinales was fastest of all at the end of pre-season testing in Qatar but also got the chance to watch trackside, when the bikes of Alex Rins and Joan Mir caught his eye.

"In Qatar, the Suzukis were going very fast," AS.com quotes Vinales as saying. "The first day I stopped early due to save some tyres, I went to watch by the track and perhaps [the Suzuki] was the most complete motorcycle I saw."

Rins and Mir finished fourth and sixth at the end of testing, although their race pace at both Sepang and Losail was more impressive than one-off laps.

Nonetheless, on paper, Vinales (who took his first MotoGP victory as a Suzuki rider in 2016) would also have been among those in the victory fight if the March 8 season-opener had gone ahead.

"The race rhythm is the strong point of the Yamaha. And this year I have worked even harder," he said. "When I have pushed it to the maximum, the bike has worked perfectly and makes me feel calm.

"We've found at least 6 or 7 km/h of top speed. That shows. I've followed the Ducati and Honda in pre-season and they don't pull away [on the straight] as much anymore. We also have the new starting device that is working very well, although everyone is using one now."

Vinales, who matched his best MotoGP championship result of third (with two wins) last season, also insisted that his relationship with countryman and reigning champion Marc Marquez is "cordial, we understand each other, we are rivals and battle on track as with anybody else. Everybody knows that he is the rival to beat, we will give 200 percent…"

The delayed start to the season caused by the coronavirus at least means Vinales has been able to recover from a motocross training injury.