Monster Energy factory Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales believes that the layout of the track in Thailand helps not only him, but his fellow Yamaha riders, with three Yamaha riders locking out the top three spots.

The Spaniard topped the morning FP1 session from Fabio Quartararo, with the Frenchman fighting back in the afternoon to take the top spot from the Spaniard by just under two tenths of a second, with Franco Morbidelli just half a tenth further back in third position.

Despite a notable top speed disadvantage, the flowing nature of the circuit, combined with the fast corners leading onto the two back straights, all meant the acceleration issues that have plagued Yamaha for over a year aren’t as pronounced as they are in other circuits.

When talking about how the first corner effects his lap, Vinales said: “You already have the speed and we have good traction, so we gain a little bit on traction but then we lose in fourth, fifth and sixth gear.

“The problem in Aragon was from zero, under acceleration, so it was more critical on the top speed.

“We don’t lose so much, unlike in Aragon, so this is very positive.”

“You can see on the paper there are two big straights, but the bike seems to work good, and I think we worked in a good way today.

“For sure the result we can improve but for Friday the job has been done.”