In 32 appearances in the premier class of the MotoGP™ World Championship, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) has still yet to qualify on pole position and the wait goes on for the Spanish rider after he took second on the grid at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon. In Q2 on Saturday afternoon Viñales registered a best lap time of 1'47.748 to finish 0.631s behind the unstoppable Marc Marquez, who took pole for the Repsol Honda Team.
This is the fifth time this season Viñales has qualified on the front row and the third consecutive Grand Prix at which he has done so. Compared with his debut season in MotoGP™ last year, when he qualified on the front row just once, Viñales has made a significant step forward in 2016. The Suzuki rider would love to repeat his performance at Aragon in 2014, where he took victory in Moto2™, but he knows he will need to be right on the pace on Sunday to beat pole man Marquez.
Maverick Viñales: "Marc (Marquez) is very strong, but anyway I think we did a very good lap and I feel comfortable with our pace. Tomorrow we will put in 100% from the start, we will give it our best shot and to try to bring Suzuki another podium result. We have it very clear: if it's hotter temperatures we'll use the hard tyre and if not, we'll see. This isn't the best track for us with a lot of slow corners, but I'm feeling good on the bike."