Vinales: "Ask Yamaha" about Valencia qualifying disaster
Maverick Vinales has expressed his frustration after only qualifying 13th for the MotoGP season finale at Valencia, and says Yamaha has to give an explanation for his lack of competitiveness.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Vinales was forced to go into Q1 due to being only 13th quickest after FP3, but was only third-fastest in the opening segment, meaning for the second time in four races he was knocked out.
His 1m31.010s effort was more than a second slower than the time with which he topped last year's post-season test on his debut with Yamaha.
Vinales said it is "impossible" to fix the bike's problems, which are mainly related to braking, and said "he has no explanation" for the issues.
"If you can ask Yamaha, it's better. I have no explanation," he said. "We are in the wrong place, we have the wrong setup and the more we do, the bike is doing the same.
"The problem comes from the brakes, the brakes are so difficult to stop and then as soon as I lean a little bit I go straight. I don't turn in the corner, I go straight, so this is the biggest issue.
"I had this problem in many many races but this is the narrowest track, the track you need to stop more the bike, so the problem increased.
"When something is not working, if you ride out, if the bike doesn't work, it doesn't work.
"You try but if you are in 1m30s, you can go 30 low, 30 high, but when you are in 1m32s it is something impossible that it can work.
"You can't, [by just changing] the setup, make two seconds like this, impossible."
Vinales dismissed suggestions that his poor form has been influenced by mental struggles, and insisted he could fight for the podium with a competitive bike.
"I am not in a hole, I have motivation, strong as always," said Vinales. "When I have the bike [I can be] in the top three.
"I am not in the hole, but I can say is that for sure mentally it is very difficult. You see yourself sometimes without pushing 100 percent and make perfect laps in the front riding well.
"Now here in Valencia pushing my 100 percent, I want to do an incredible result because it is the last race. The [2016] test was so good, but struggling to be 17th, 18th, not normal.
"Honestly as a rider, very frustrating and I hope the team is, too."
Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont
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