Vinales ‘happy, M1 working well’

Maverick Viñales may not be approaching the levels of assurance reached around this time a year ago, but the 23-year old declared himself to be “very happy” with the first day of MotoGP free practice at Le Mans.

The former Moto3 world champion did not arrive in France in the most exuberant of moods after a test at Mugello brought about familiar old failings to the fore: namely the Yamaha M1’s difficulty at handling a lack of grip.

Le Mans offers some respite, however, and the fairly new track surface, coupled with the cool temperatures, led to both Movistar Yamahas showing well on Friday. Viñales ended the day fourth, a place behind team-mate Valentino Rossi and one ahead of satellite runner Johann Zarco.

This came in spite of a set-up change in the afternoon which the Catalan “really didn’t like.” He could quickly recover to place his name among those expected to challenge come Sunday. And most of all, it was his twelve-lap run in the second half of FP1 that pointed to his potential at this track.

“Well, I could make some laps in the morning with a good rhythm,” said Viñales, referencing FP1. “In the afternoon I tried something different on the bike that I really didn’t like, it wasn’t working. We lost a lot of time in the box trying to change those things.

“So overall in FP2 I made just three or four laps pushing the bike and it’s working well. I’m actually happy with how the bike is working. Still we need to adjust the electronics on the track but I’m very happy.”

Does he feel as well placed as he did here a year ago? “Well, for sure I didn’t have the confidence [today] to push like last year,” he said. “Last year I had good races before and arrived here with a lot of confidence on the bike. But the bike was working well. This morning I could keep well the race pace that I did last year.

“In the afternoon I think the pace at the end was quite good. Overall, I think we improved a little bit in Le Mans. Now we have to set up the bike a little bit better for the track. Still I think we can improve tomorrow.”

There were a high number of falls in the opening parts of the afternoon session, with Pol Espargaro, Scott Redding and Franco Morbidelli all crashing out in the opening eight minutes.

Asked for his thoughts on this, Viñales said, “Well, I think the crashes were with the medium tyre. It didn’t feel so good. I could not push at my best because I didn’t feel great with the front as in the morning.

“Still there are things we need to clarify because I didn’t feel great on the front and maybe we have to modify a little bit the bike to try and make the medium tyre work better. But it was very windy and sure it was cooling down the tyres.”