Vinales caught out to lose pole, Quartararo is favourite

Maverick Vinales cut an upbeat figure following qualifying for the Andalucia MotoGP after bagging a spot on the front row of the grid for the second weekend in succession.

Forming the latter half of a Yamaha 1-2 alongside Fabio Quartararo, Vinales was originally classified as the pole winner only for his session-topping lap time to be cancelled because he was judged to have exceeded track limits – clearly but still marginally – at Turn 7.

With yellow flags hampering his efforts on the lap before, Vinales admits he was relieved to still get second on the grid regardless.

“I’m unlucky I touched the green because with the second tyre on the first lap I found a yellow flag in the second corner so I missed that lap and I only had one chance. I made a mistake at Turn 7 and I touched the green, so the lap was cancelled. I was feeling confident today in FP4 and I feel fantastic on the bike, we have a better position on the tyres this weekend.”

The early leader in Jerez last week, Vinales was nonetheless overhauled by Quartararo and left a distant second place. However, though the Spaniard is tipping Quartararo to be the favourite, he thinks he will pose a greater threat to him.

“I’m so happy and so pleased, because the bike is working so well. I can’t wait for tomorrow and be in the race.

“We saw Fabio in FP4 and he has a great rhythm so I think he starts as favourite, but we will try to be faster if we can.”