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Second at the end of the test day at the Jerez de la Frontera track, Maverick Vinales confirmed a certain affinity with the RC16. Having put behind him the disappointment of losing his position at Lusail, the Spaniard finished seventh in the Sprint and fourth in the GP showing that he is improving and interpreting the bike better than the other KTM riders.
"I didn't try many things, on the contrary I focused on aerodynamics not for the races immediately following, but for the future, as we still have to wait for the second homologation. Overall I tried to understand the bike better because on Sunday I was losing a tenth in the first sector and so it was necessary to find a solution for next year. It was great, I must admit my best weekend so far. It was also good to have time to work on the bike, and by the end the pace was pretty good. I also did a fast lap that came easy, so we can say that we are constantly improving," he analyzed with satisfaction.
The Spaniard was able to take advantage of a track with a lot of rubber on it. "It actually makes life easier, especially it helps to control tire wear, but the wind was also strong, so I couldn't pinpoint which of the two elements affected it more. In any case, I tried to focus on my riding style and understand how to be more incisive," the KTM Tech3 team rider later claimed. "The exhaust was the one used in the race and in Qatar. Having only this configuration I used to adopt it from Saturday, but starting in Le Mans I will have two, so from now on I will use it from Friday. It's a matter of sensations. With Bastianini, who went back to the old one, I did not do any comparisons, we simply reported our opinions."
Taking stock, he added, "We are not far from the top. For 70 percent of the race we were running within a tenth of the winner Alex Marquez. So now it's a matter of working on the details, getting to know the bike more and maybe improving the electronics and the front and rear suspension. We tried some new things for the future, but in my opinion we are already at a good level. We have to continue in this way so that we can quickly get back to battling in the front, because on Sunday I was close to Quartararo and Bagnaia and I had a good pace."
On the subject of vibrations, he said, "There is currently no component that can eliminate them, only the riding style can help."
Finally, a reflection on tires. "In the Sprint the Ducati riders were able to squeeze the soft to the maximum from the first lap, while we weren't able to. Differently, later on, we were more consistent, while they dropped a bit in pace. However, they strung four laps together in 36"9, 36"8 and 37"0 building up a 2" gap that was difficult to make up," he concluded.
