Preseason, practice, pole…good start…but it wasn’t plain sailing on the way to the headline that many had already sent to print for Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). A difficult race and start saw the Spaniard out of podium contention at first, before that signature pace started to come back as his confidence improved.
Fighting to overcome the straight line speed of Andrea Dovizioso’s (Ducati Team) Desmosedici, Viñales finally made his move and made his gap on the penultimate lap – to take his first win for Yamaha first time out.
MV25, P1: “I’m so satisfied, the team did such a good job keeping the bike with the right setup, and I started well – I arrived second into the first corner but then Zarco appeared and I had to pick up the bike, otherwise we would have crashed. Then Marc and Dovi appeared and the track was quite slippery. I couldn’t make my own speed in the corner and I went off once in a fast corner. So it was hard in the early laps but then step by step I recovered my confidence. When I got to marc I thought that was the time to push. Then I arrived to Dovi and I didn’t know how to pass him. Thank you to the team because they did a great job!”