Vinales takes 'important step' to Argentina, Espargaro to 'hold the line'

The wet Mandalika race masked the set-up breakthrough Vinales felt he had made in the dry warm-up session, where he was second fastest behind former Yamaha team-mate and reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo.

This weekend's Termas de Rio Hondo event, where Vinales took victory in 2017, will thus determine if the Spaniard has indeed found what he needs from the RS-GP after struggling for front end feel and turning.

"If it were up to me, I’d have raced in Argentina as soon as the Indonesian race was over," Vinales said.

"At Mandalika, we made an important step forward in terms of settings which did not come out fully in the race due to the difficult conditions, but which makes me highly optimistic for the upcoming rounds.

"I'm convinced that we are extremely close to finding full confidence but in the current MotoGP championship, every tiny improvement takes a lot of work for both the team and the rider.

"It’s a matter of putting a lot of details together and creating a perfect synergy but we are on the right path."

While Vinales is yet to finish higher than twelfth so far this season, team-mate Aleix Espargaro is joint sixth in the early world championship standings after 4-9 race results.

"I am extremely happy to be returning to Argentina to race. It’s a country where you really feel the support for our sport, as well as a track where I have always felt rather good in the past," said Espargaro.

"We got off on the right foot this season and now we have two races in a row ahead of us where it will be fundamental to hold the line and earn as many points as possible before returning to Europe."

The RS-GP's best result at Termas is a seventh place with Stefan Bradl in 2016, the event having been cancelled for the past two seasons due to the Covid pandemic.