Maverick Vinales recovered from a disappointing MotoGP qualifying and finished eighth at Mugello, but it was another weekend when the Spaniard was outdone by teammate Fabio Quartararo.
Vinales started in 13th after a controversial qualifying in which Marc Marquez Vinales followed except for the Yamaha rider’s last attempt to qualify.
Marquez took full advantage of Vinales’ speed by getting himself a drag on both runs which resulted in the Honda rider advancing and eventually missing Vinales.
While eighth place was a decent result given Saturday’s qualifying, the 26-year-old called it “a weekend to forget”, not least with Quartararo’s third win in 2021, which couldn’t have helped.
Vinales are already 41 points behind the French who are going to Catalonia, where Quartararo won last year.
“The Italian GP was a weekend to forget for a number of reasons. My thoughts still go with Jason’s friends, family and team, but we also have some serious steps to take this weekend,” said Vinales.
On the subject of matching items
“We will continue to work to understand what works for us and what doesn’t and why. It has happened a couple of times that I’m fast in training, but then later on at the weekend I suddenly lose that feeling with the bike.
“We have to improve by only finding a good set-up in the first two 45-minute FP sessions. We will certainly push here again this weekend.”
Vinales’ trouble being quick in practice but losing “that feeling” over the weekend is an example of what happened at the Catalonia GP last year, as he was second fastest in practice and fifth in qualifying. before finishing ninth in the race.