MotoGP, Vinales: less HP at the Red Bull Ring means more work

If we look at the glass half full, Suzuki was very close to Yamaha, while if we look at it half empty, they were pretty far from Ducati, as was Yamaha. The tests at the Red Bull Ring can't have been totally satisfying more anyone not on a red bike, but this doesn't take away from the fact that Vinales and Espargarò (8th and 9th) put in a good performance.

"The second day confirmed my good impression of the circuit - says Maverick -The layout and the surroundings are very nice, but also it is a very unusual track; it is a typical ‘on/ off track’, with hard accelerations, three long straights and hard braking."

So the horsepower makes the difference and are not the GSX-RR's most dangerous weapon.

"Those who have the biggest power may be advantaged at this circuit, and for this we have to work more - he confirms - For sure, today we made some improvements, we were looking for some more traction and some of the solutions we have tried proved to be effective; our engineers will now work on that as we need to get here for the race in our best shape. It won’t be easy, but our pace is not bad and we will do our best to pursue our usual objective; to fight in the top six.” 

On the other side of the garage, Espargarò agrees with his team-mate.

"Today we worked really hard, trying different solutions with the electronics and also a different swingarm, to try to find more traction - explains Aleix - This circuit is very nice but the full power will play a major role; for this I expect we will be struggling a lot. For sure races are done by the pace also, and on this we worked hard and had positive responses."