Breaking news
MotoGP Teruel GP
Vinales: “Impossible” to close points gap with current Yamaha
Maverick Vinales says it’s “impossible” to close down the points gap to MotoGP championship leader Joan Mir with the current Yamaha after struggling to seventh in the Teruel Grand Prix.
Lewis Duncan
Published: Oct 25, 2020, 4:43 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Vinales showed strong pace throughout practice at both Aragon rounds, but suffered in both races with a drop in grip, with the Spaniard only seventh having started fourth on Sunday.
Franco Morbidelli on the 2019 Yamaha dominated the race, while the Suzuki duo of Alex Rins and Joan Mir romped to another double podium.
Mir’s third place means his championship lead extends to 14 points, with his gap to Vinales now 19 with just three races to go.
Vinales insists Yamaha hasn’t improved anything with the 2020 bike since the Malaysia test in February, and admits he can only “pray” to have a “perfect bike” at Valencia if he is to still contend for the championship.
“It’s impossible with the bike we have right now,” he said when asked what he has to do to close down Mir.
“Suzuki right now are in another level. So, we cannot do nothing. We just need to pray to have a perfect bike in Valencia, perfect start, be first and to see if we don’t lose the position.
“I will try to be fresh, try to give good feedback to the guys in the box so they can provide us with the best bike.
“We don’t have the correct arsenal to fight against Suzuki, because looks like they are able to turn faster, more corner speed and less metres [wide] in the corner.
“So, you cannot recover all this by only opening the gas. We have ideas, but for sure it will be very tough to improve the bike because we didn’t improve nothing from the Malaysia test.
“If the bike works good, we will be good. If it don’t works good, we will try to survive and try to give the maximum result.”
When asked where the 2019 bike of Morbidelli’s is better, Vinales says it’s “basically the DNA of Yamaha – turning and corner speed”.
Explaining what went wrong in the race, Vinales says he had “no grip” from the third lap on his soft rear tyre and “a lot of chatter” on the front end.
“We had no grip on the tyres during all this race, I had a lot of chatter on the bike,” he added.
“It was very complicated, but anyway the objective has been done. I took out one point from Fabio [Quartararo, who was eighth], this was our objective to be the first 2020 Yamaha.
“It’s what we can do. So, now the guys need to analyse for Valencia, to get the data and to be better, to be faster. That’s it.
“I tried today to do my job, I think today could have gone much worse because the chatter I had was very difficult to manage and to stay on the bike.
“I’m not happy, but satisfied I finished in front of Fabio.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Binder penalised for Miller collision in Teruel GP
Next article Nakagami says he couldn't manage "incredible pressure"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
More from
Maverick Viñales
Maverick Vinales “thinking every night” about future: “I haven’t given up yet”
MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Maverick Vinales “thinking every night” about future: “I haven’t given up yet”
Maverick Vinales: “I don't understand what KTM wants from me”
MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Maverick Vinales: “I don't understand what KTM wants from me”
Tech3 KTM confirms Maverick Vinales’ comeback for Japanese GP
MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Tech3 KTM confirms Maverick Vinales’ comeback for Japanese GP
More from
Yamaha Factory Racing
MotoGP to fine riders €5,000 for failing to attend promotional events
MotoGP
MotoGP
Indonesian GP
MotoGP to fine riders €5,000 for failing to attend promotional events
Risky or good for the show? MotoGP riders divided on 2027 weekend format change
MotoGP
MotoGP
Indonesian GP
Risky or good for the show? MotoGP riders divided on 2027 weekend format change
Alex Rins jokes “I sh*t my pants” as Jack Miller gives him MotoGP taxi ride
MotoGP
MotoGP
Japanese GP
Alex Rins jokes “I sh*t my pants” as Jack Miller gives him MotoGP taxi ride
Latest news
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
18 min
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe