Viñales: "The crash was a big mistake"

It's finally happened. Maiden pole or win for Yamaha? That we don't know yet. But Maverick Viñales has at least ticked off one first at his new Movistar Yamaha home - a crash in 2017. But they say you can't keep a good man down and that was true enough; the number 25 straight back at it after his T4 lowside in FP2.

He didn't improve on his fastest from Friday, but he didn't need to - remaining top overall to lead the charge to Q2. Now, surely, the rider from Roses is a key favourite for the pole position shootout.

MV25, P1: “The crash was a big mistake on my part. I was pushing and I was going wide. I was at that point where you have to decide – to go wide or try and make the corner. I tried to make the corner and I lost the front. My mistake and I was angry with myself because I shouldn’t make those mistakes! But I’m happy because we had good pace today even though the conditions weren’t as good as yesterday. It was slippier, I don’t know why but we did 1:56s consistently. I’m happy. Finally I didn’t feel so good on the soft tyre but I didn’t push at the limit – I was trying to have good pace. The bike is working well but we just need to improve the grip a bit. Maybe it was the conditions today after it rained and it was a bit dusty, so let’s check tomorrow. I’m happy overall but the crash was a big mistake. I know when I concentrate 100% I don’t make those mistakes.”