Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

New Yamaha MotoGP chassis doesn't suit my riding style - Vinales

Maverick Vinales says the chassis Yamaha gave him at Assen does not suit his riding style as well as the one he used at the start of the MotoGP season

Vinales dominated pre-season testing and then won the first two rounds of the season to take an early lead in the championship, but has since suffered swings in his form and crashed out of races in Argentina and at Assen.

The latter came as he tried to recover lost ground after qualifying 11th and cost him his lead in the standings, with Andrea Dovizioso now ahead by four points.

At Assen Vinales used one of the new frames Yamaha first gave him and team-mate Valentino Rossi to try in post-race testing at Barcelona, but he said at the Sachsenring on Thursday that it did not allow him to ride as aggressively as he was used to.

"The new bike we brought in Assen has a lot of potential, but maybe isn't the best for my riding style because I'm used to being really aggressive," Vinales said.

"The chassis I rode in the first part of the season gave me a little bit more confidence to be aggressive on the bike, especially on changing direction it was really stable, and then quickly on the gas.

"That's what I feel more comfortable [with].

"On the new bike we have many areas where we can improve, so we have to make the correct choice [of which chassis to use]."

Vinales described his Assen crash as the "strangest of my life" after the race, but said he had since realised he had tried to change direction too quickly while using too much throttle.

"I was aggressive because I wanted to close fast the gap, because the laps were coming [down] really fast, and I put too much gas," Vinales admitted.

"I had first the wheelie, then I changed quickly the direction, the bike didn't have the correct balance to change direction.

"It has never happened to me to crash at the chicane, especially on the exit.

"But it's something that can happen we learn, and we learned in the rain, for me it was most the important thing."

Team-mate Rossi said he would continue to use both types of chassis this weekend at the Sachsenring, but was intending to use the new version - with which he won at Assen - for the race.

"For me the situation is like Assen," he said.

"It's like this [only having one of each chassis] because we don't have time, maybe the situation will change for Brno [after the summer break].

"I will stay with the new one [for the race] because I feel good.

"But we always try to use the other one to have a reference and be ready in these conditions."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Jack Miller: Factory Honda MotoGP contract 'not that big of a deal'
Next article 'Not great' Jorge Lorenzo knows he must 'escape' Ducati situation

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe