Maverick Vinales says the breakthrough Yamaha made with the M1 during the Thailand weekend was “confirmed” on Friday during MotoGP practice at Motegi.
Vinales ended the day fifth fastest overall and just three tenths from pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati, while running at the sharp end for much of the damp FP2.
Yamaha enjoyed its most competitive weekend since the summer break last time out in Thailand, with Vinales third and just under three tenths from victory, though was wary track conditions and tyre construction masked the M1's issues.
However, Vinales feels the set-up of the bike has been the main “improvement”, as the tyres brought to Motegi “work completely differently” to those brought to Buriram.
“It's been a good day, honestly really positive,” said the Spaniard.
“We confirmed the improvement in Thailand was about the set-up rather than the tyres. The tyres work completely differently than in Thailand, but still we nearly made it on top.
“So I'm really happy and pleased about today. Still there is a lot of room to improve, I think we have to continue with that set-up and try to improve on track.”
Rossi: Difficult to have a clear idea on Yamaha pace
Valentino Rossi did not echo his teammate's thoughts on Yamaha's apparent breakthrough after struggling for pace on Friday, but took solace in the form shown by Vinales and Tech3's Johann Zarco, who was third overall.
“It's a difficult day to have a clear idea, fortunately FP1 was dry so we could work a bit,” Rossi, who was ninth on the combined times and a second off the pace, began.
“I was not fantastic, my pace was not fantastic. But on the other side, Zarco and Vinales were quit strong, so this is good for Yamaha.
“We have to try something else like this. In the afternoon unfortunately the conditions were difficult, because it was half and half.
“But I had something to try, so I stayed on the track with wet tyres to try to understand. From that information, tomorrow we'll try to make it better.
“A better setting, especially to keep a good pace with a used tyres, which is always difficult for us. We hope for good weather tomorrow and to better understand our situation.”
