Monster Energy Yamaha factory rider Maverick Vinales has said that his team must now improve if he and Yamaha are to challenge Marc Marquez, after the Yamaha man finished in third position at Thailand.

The Spaniard started from the second of the middle row and after a strong start got away with both Marquez and pole sitter Fabio Quartararo in the early stages of the race, before dropping all of three seconds after seven laps.

Vinales’ continued fighting, taking a tenth or two every lap, eventually crossing the line just 1.3 seconds behind race winner Marquez.

The Spaniard said that he is pleased with how Yamaha is progressing, but still need to improve, pointing towards rear tyre grip as an area to focus on.

“I’m pleased about the result, we’re getting a lot of consistency, but now the team has to improve,” said the 24-year-old.

“We get a little bit low grip, especially on the rear at the beginning of the race, then was a little bit better, but at the beginning I suffer a lot on the rear tyre, so now they have to improve.

“Now it’s time to do it, we are battling, trying to take the maximum from the bike. We know how to do it, so time to be in Japan, which I think is a really good track for us, and we will try to push even harder.”