Both Mugello and Barcelona offered so much promise for Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) but issues on Sunday saw him unable to recreate the magic of his Le Mans podium. Post-race testing on Monday in Barcelona gave the former Moto3™ World Champion a chance to test a number of new parts and settings, focusing on improving rear traction. Progress was made and Assen presents the Suzuki rider with a chance to put his and Suzuki’s findings through the rigour of a race weekend. The flowing layout of the Assen circuit should suit both Viñales and the GSX-RR, in 2015 he and Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) finished in the top ten.
Maverick Viñales: “The work we did in Catalunya on Monday after race was very useful to better-investigate the potential of the new specs of the chassis. I’ve been struggling with the rear grip lately and the set-ups we found can apparently help me in finding a better efficiency with traction. This is an important step forward for me, according to my riding style. We are constantly making progress technical-wise and the results are following; we are consistently fighting with the top competitors, although we still miss a little bit that we need to fight properly for even better positions. Assen will be an important and yet tough race, we have to try to finalise the best set-up possible according to the new chassis and be really focused.”