Vinales hails ‘perfect’ start to 2020 MotoGP title bid

Maverick Vinales says the 40-point reward for his two second place results in the back-to-back Spanish and Andalucia MotoGP events represents a ‘perfect start’ to his 2020 MotoGP title bid despite once again falling short of race-winning Yamaha counterpart Fabio Quartararo.

Having slugged it out for a second place finish on the factory Yamaha last weekend, Vinales came into this weekend’s event confident of making the gains he needed to be more competitive in race trim.

Instead, Vinales struggled more for consistent pace, being made to work hard to secure second position having been demoted down the order by Pecco Bagnaia, Valentino Rossi, Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli at one stage.

However, with Bagnaia, Miller and Morbidelli all failing to finish in the end, Vinales left it until the penultimate lap to get the better of his esteemed team-mate and secure a healthy haul of points again.

“I tried everything from the first lap,” he said. “I tried to overtake Fabio but I thought he was closer to me so I opened the line but he was very smart and cut the line, then I lost a position to Valentino so I struggled and I couldn’t have the same plan. Every time I was close to Valentino, I couldn’t stop the bike and I spent a lot trying to get past him,

“I couldn’t get my own rhythm, I was getting stuck every time I arrived but then in the last laps when I was on my own I started to hit good lap times again, which gave me a good feeling.

“So, I decided to give a little bit of room to cool down the tyres and then push, but then I started fighting with the Ducatis. My race was very complicated but after I relaxed and concentrated, it was fun the last laps.

On a day it notched up a 1-2-3 sweep on the podium, Vinales’s brace of second place finishes consolidates Yamaha’s excellent start to the 2020 MotoGP season.

“I was trying hard to overtake Valentino because it was very important to take those 20 points for the championship and finally we did it.

“I am very motivated for Brno, we know what we need to change on the bike. For me it was two perfect weekends, two 20 points in Jerez is really good for me because I normally struggle here but the team has done a good job.”