Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was the best of the rest at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, brilliantly taking P2, with the Spaniard confirming he and his factory Yamaha are edging closer to the form that led him to three victories in the opening five races of 2017.
This was the former Moto3™ World Champion’s first podium of the year after starting from pole, and speaking after the race, Viñales seemed very happy with how the weekend has gone. “Yeah we’re coming. Honestly, I enjoyed this weekend so much, even still we don’t feel like we are at the maximum level we can be, we feel quite strong, we know we improve good things from Argentina and we have a way to go to improve even more,” he stated.
First podium of 2018 for @maverickmack25 ????#AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/m2XH0vbJ8Q
— MotoGP™???????????? (@MotoGP) April 22, 2018
Now, the four-time premier class winner is starting to understand his 2018 Yamaha bike a lot more. “We start to understand how to go fast on the 2018 Yamaha bike, but today I’m actually really happy. Today I think this was the maximum we could do, so I´m happy.”
Viñales’ attention now turns to Jerez in two weeks’ time, a track he’s confident he can go well at. “I can’t wait to be in Jerez, it’s a track that fits our bike quite well, now it’s time to improve, fix some other problems we have on the bike and try to make another step.”
It certainly seems Viñales has got his mojo back, and with the number 25 just five points adrift of Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), the signs are there for the 23-year-old to get back to the form that saw him dominate preseason testing ahead of the 2017 season.