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Vinales more "relaxed" on Yamaha's 2018 prototype chassis
Maverick Vinales says the new '2018 prototype' chassis introduced by his Yamaha team allows him to feel more “relaxed” on the bike, in addition to improving rear tyre drop-off.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Sep 8, 2017, 4:35 PM
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Yamaha, plagued by inconsistent form this season, trialled the prototype in a private test at Misano in late August – and it's understood both Vinales and factory teammate Valentino Rossi used in the British GP.
The Silverstone race marked a return to form for the Spaniard, who, having finished no higher than third in the five preceding races, came close to beating Andrea Dovizioso to victory.
Asked about the new chassis after the opening day at the San Marino GP, Vinales said: “For my riding style, especially in the entry of the corner, I feel more comfortable on the bike.
“It's something I really like because I need to ride, let's say, easy on the bike, especially going in the corners, because I need to feel really relaxed on the bike to go fast and to trust the tyres.
“So it's always good when you make a change and you feel more relaxed, more constant every time.”
Asked whether the new chassis helped address the rear tyre woes that held him back in Austria two rounds ago, Vinales said: “Yes, a little bit, a little bit. Especially like we see in Silverstone, I could do really good laptimes at the end.
“This helps to make the tyre life a little bit longer, so that's really good and something you can use a lot, especially to improve yourself lap by lap.”
Vinales was only eighth in the opening practice of the Misano race weekend, but finished Friday just 0.005s off the pace.
The Spaniard admitted he was initially caught out by his Yamaha bike feeling different compared to the August test.
“It confused a little bit because the grip [in the test] was so good that I didn't have to push so much on the gas, I can just go [with] a lot of speed through the corner.
“Now to make the speed on the corner is very difficult because the bike, the behaviour of the bike is not the same as on the test. So we have to try to get this feeling because we were really fast.
“Anyway I'm quite happy how the bike was working today. Since many races we are doing a great step, especially from FP1 to FP2. I'm quite happy that we improved.”
Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont
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