Vinales finished the first MotoGP of the Portuguese Grand Prix on Friday, running in second place overall in the Algarve behind pacemaker Johann Zarco, admitting it had been “as long” since he felt as competitive as he was.
The Yamaha rider says this is because the tarmac at the Portuguese venue is completely different than in Valencia, where he battled 10th place last weekend, and this masks the M1’s usual grip and traction problems.
“The time I felt this way was Misano, both races. I think we have a good opportunity to ride bikes and enjoy,” he said. “Now we have to understand a lot of things because some corners are very difficult with this bike. So we have to keep working.
“Basically, the asphalt is completely different from Valencia, so I think the bike accepts it a lot better, especially at the first touch [of the throttle] is more grippy and I can drive a little better. We avoid a lot of problems, especially side slip and traction. So in this case we feel quite comfortable. “
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Oddly enough, he says that the track’s recently resurfaced tarmac is not really grippy – much like it was in Valencia – and Yamaha still needs to “understand” why none of its problems in Valencia affect it.
“Well the grip isn’t very high, but I have traction,” he added. “So it’s something we need to understand and why we didn’t have that traction in Valencia. Today we worked with the height of the bike, we didn’t change the weight balance, I think we will do it tomorrow.
“We played with that [ride] Height. We have to understand what is best for the race and qualifying. In the end, I think the time attack was pretty good. The soft tire isn’t incredible, it’s too soft on the left, so I definitely can’t get the maximum performance out of it.
“So tomorrow we have to understand how to do it.”