Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales is not under any championship pressure at this weekend’s Phillip Island MotoGP round and is hoping the newer M1 works as well as the one on which he was fastest at the pre-season test.

Vinales is 41 points behind Marc Marquez and admits it will take a mistake for him to close the championship gap but arriving at the track with a bike that is ‘totally different’ to the one he tested in February will prove interesting.

“In pre-season I was fast but we arrive here in a totally different way with a totally different bike. It’s a track I enjoy riding and let’s see if the bike is working good. In Motegi, we tried everything but didn’t have any positive results,” said Vinales, speaking at Phillip Island.

“I have no pressure now so hopefully we can continue riding as before. Now the title is not in our hands, it’s very difficult. Our opponents have to make a mistake, we have to try to bring the Yamaha to the maximum level and repeat another win.”