Maverick Vinales has said that the pace found by Yamaha last time out in Buriram wasn’t a one off and that they have taken a serious step forwards after the first day of MotoGP free practice in Motegi.

The Spaniard finished in third last time out and ended the opening day of proceedings at the Twin Ring Motegi fifth fastest after the second session of the day was hampered by rain.

In spite of the slightly shortened day, Vinales said that the dry time on track was enough for him to feel confident that the progress made is here for good.

“We have confirmed the feelings of Thailand and I felt so much better,” said the 23-year-old after the opening day of free practice.

“I’m very pleased with the step forward we did in Thailand and we have to continue like this. The step in Thailand was not just about the tyre.”

Yamaha have been trying hard and have put a lot of effort into improving the M1, including bringing over electronics guru Michele Gadda. When asked the biggest change, Vinales pinpointed the weight distribution on his factory machine.

“The weight distribution. It was important to test even in the wet, I wanted to do laps to work on my feeling.”