Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) capped off his impressive second year in the premier class – and last with Suzuki – with another top five finish in the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Spaniard fought for the podium early on, before the drop in grip saw him unable to quite keep the pace of those ahead; crossing the line in P5.
After two years at the helm of his Team Suzuki Ecstar machine – onboard since the Hamamatsu factory returned to the premier class of Grand Prix racing – Viñales now moves to Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, to replace outgoing 3-time MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.
Maverick Viñales (P5): “It’s been a hard race. Honestly I was expecting a little more, I thought the podium was achievable, but at the end of the race it was so hard to keep the pace. I tried my best at the beginning, but then I had to cede position and hold to the end. At the end my feelings are for these two years with Suzuki, we did a very good job, if I think all the struggles we had last year and now we’ve been fighting for podiums consistently in the last part of the season. It’s a good sensation, and also I’m leaving here some people with which we created a very good connection. I’m proud of the job we’ve done together.”