Hardly deserved victory
In terms of wins, Vinales’ first of the year was definitely a hard-earned one and his second at Losail. With the lights off, it was a pure Ducati affair at the top in the early stages, so the eventual winner still had a lot to do.
But he did, cut his way forward, and then pulled on the needle. Can those he defeated defend themselves?
Machine brand
With a data race and a few more sessions before the lights go out, the men will be closest – Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and reigning champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) eager to try to close this gap or to skip Vinales.
What may worry her at Vinales’ pace, however, is that conditions worsened from Saturday – Yamaha’s traditional day of scorching pace – but the number 12 was able to drop everyone, including its fellow Iwata-brand machines.
start
This included Monster Energy Yamaha’s new MotoGP teammate Fabio Quartararo, and the Frenchman will be sifting through the data to see where Vinales is ahead, as is Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the man behind the The fastest in the test was the first race in ninth place – and the new team-mate Bagnaia made it onto the podium.
The abundance of information is only positive, however, and shouldn’t be counted by a time sheets start this time either – something Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and teammate Franco Morbidelli will also be looking for.
Lights go out
That track time starts again on Friday, when the bars again struggle under the lights of Losail with an additional 25 points on the line, while the lights go out for the second stunner of the season on Sunday at 8 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. IST).
It’s Viñales advantage … but how long?