Maverick Vinales was in the middle of a Yamaha time-sheet clean sweep after the first day of MotoGP testing at Valencia but said he will know much more about the 2020 M1 after tomorrow’s sessions.
The Spaniard trailed Fabio Quartararo by a little less than two tenths today, starting work on the 2019 bike before switching to the 2020 machine soon after.
“A good start to the test. I was very happy. We rode the bike in a good way. That was the most important. We saved a tyre for tomorrow because we have to make better set-up. I rode with the hard tyre which was the race tyre. I felt great,” said Vinales, speaking at the track.
“We left the other bike at an incredible level so still we are working on it. But I am happy that the difference is not that big. We ride fast, all the time with the bike. But still for sure it’s just the first day, the first 50 laps. We need much more time [to assess].
“Honestly I’m still trying to find the best set-up. We are working very hard to see if we can find the best set-up here at Valencia.
At the moment it’s difficult to understand but the most important thing is I ride fast and consistent all the time. I kept 1’30s on the rhythm, which I didn’t do all weekend. That was really good.”
Team-mate Valentino Rossi was overly enamoured with the new engine, saying it needed more work, but Vinales seems to be at the other end of the scale.
“For me it works good. The bike was working fantastic today so we will see you tomorrow. Still we have to work on it. It’s very difficult to understand. We need to keep working. Tomorrow we will know much more.”
