Such was the change in bike set-up made on Saturday, Maverick Viñales feels recent months of frustrating preseason work were deemed “useless” after switching “everything” on his Yamaha M1 provided feel some much needed at Losail.
Viñales said it was though he had “lost three months” going in the wrong direction with set-up and development, a time in which he and team-mate Valentino Rossi were regularly outperformed by satellite rider Johann Zarco.
That trend continued at the first round of 2018 as Zarco secured a sensational pole position, while Rossi (eighth) and Viñales (twelfth) languished down the order. Yet Viñales saw glimmers of light, his overhauled M1 performing more to his liking in FP4.
There the 23-year old posted a 15-lap run, which gradually increased in speed and suggested Viñales could make a play for the podium in Sunday’s race. The secret? Altering “everything” on the bike to replicate his feeing from this round twelve months ago.
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“It seems on our side of the box we didn’t find something I like [until now],” he said on Saturday evening. “In FP4 we changed quite a lot the bike, similar to what I was riding last year, and I felt much, much better, already from the first lap.
“So we have to continue working, trying to simulate bike from the beginning of last year a little bit, you know, the positive points, and let’s see what we can do. Honestly, looking at the set-up we used today, it was like the test was useless, for me and for my side. So we have to continue working and trying to find a positive way.”
Such was his lack of speed on Friday evening Viñales faced the ignominy of appearing in Saturday’s Q1 qualifying session. Having progressed through that, the Catalan could place no higher than twelfth in Q1 after failing to find sufficient space on track to attack.
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That didn’t appear to faze the former Moto3 world champion however. Feeling comfortable and finding a setting that was to his liking took precedence, he said, and several big decisions regarding a future development direction need to be taken soon.
“I didn’t find a clear lap in Q2,” he said of qualifying. “I made the fast lap in the second run, so the tire was already spinning a lot. As I said, I am looking more to gain confidence, get a bike I can ride than results, nothing more.
“Honestly, right now, I feel like I lost three months, because the bike is totally different, and already from the first lap I felt much more comfortable than the bike I rode three months ago.
“[This round is] Not a test. Finally it is a race, and I think that if I have the feeling I get in FP4, I can go over and be in the top. But we have to continue working and think in the future about the way we are going to take.”
Electronics set-up has been the Achilles’ heel of the factory Yamaha M1 for well over a season now. Viñales revealed this hadn’t changed, and increasing the stiffness of the bike was responsible for his improved feel.
“No, the electronics are still the same,” he said. “We didn’t have any improvements, any updates. Still I think we have to make a big step in the electronics, but especially we change the set-up, with the stiffer bike I felt much better.”
And what of the task that awaits on Sunday, when eleven riders will start ahead? “Yes, there are so many [riders],” he said. “So many. But the feeling was great, so let’s see.” Could Saturday in Qatar mark a sea change in his ailing fortunes?
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