MotoGP, Vinales’ crew chief in Covid hotel: “He’ll be back in the garage Sunday.”

The weekend in Qatar didn’t start out great for Maverick Vinales, because he just found out that he’ll have to do without his crew chief, Esteban Garcia, at least until Sunday. The result of his first swab, which he had as soon as they landed in Doha, was dubious, so he was taken to a Covid hotel for further updates.

The Yamaha rider explained: “Esteban already had another test yesterday, and it was negative, but he’ll have to stay in isolation until Saturday. I think he can be at the circuit Sunday. He’ll be able to help us from there, by being in contact with us, but having already done a lot of tests, we don’t have much work to do, just ride. It’s a shame, but the rest of the team is fine.”

Maverick then commented on the news that Marquez won’t be present during the two inaugural races in Qatar.

“It’s very difficult to say anything about it. The only person who knows how Marc is doing is himself,” Maverick said. “It’s always extra motivation when he’s there. We all push harder. Surely, as soon as he can ride, he’ll be here, and it’ll be positive for everyone.”

Even without Marquez, there are still a lot of rivals. Starting with Ducati.

“Last year I said that, from one to ten, my desire to start was twelve. Now it’s twenty-four. Double,” he said, jokingly. “I can’t wait,  because I think it’ll be a good season for me, and it’ll be important to be calm. I won’t have to touch up the bike much, because it’s already good, it works. For the GP, I’ll just have to improve in the last sector of the track and the start. Everything else works perfectly. The Ducatis can be beaten. That’s the goal .”