Maverick Vinales wanted to give it a try. After raising the white flag in Indonesia due to the left shoulder issues that have been plaguing him since the Sachsenring crash, the KTM Tech3 team rider wanted to put his helmet and overalls back on to take part in a final round of the season that could represent a sort of gym for him, rather than a real race weekend as he is not yet quite back in shape.
"I feel better compared to Mandalika. Although I'm not 100 percent yet, I'm not too far off either. Before I came I trained on a 600 and a 1000 to understand my level and in terms of time feedback I was competitive, so I'm ready. We'll see with the MotoGP bike which has different power, but there has definitely been an improvement. The tendons will still need some time to settle down because you take particular positions on the bike, but in terms of everyday life I have fully recovered. Overall, the steps forward are evident and I am gradually gaining more and more strength," he said.
From tomorrow all your doubts can be dispelled....
"Yes, because if on the road bikes I have found fluidity again, with the MotoGP it all remains to be seen. So the first step will be to regain confidence and then try the new parts. That's why it's important to be here. I had considered the possibility of also doing Portimao, but that would have been too stressful since it is two consecutive weekends, so I preferred to focus on Valencia and the subsequent test."
How have you been training these days to try to recover as much as possible?
"I've been working on strength. The only problem is that my mobility is still not perfect and this prevents you from getting stronger as you can't do all the movements well, but I'm getting there. Now I can hold a natural position on the bike. I only feel pain when I brake on the straight and go in support, but probably with the adrenaline I won't feel it anymore."
Turn 1 could prove to be critical...
"I will try to help myself with my legs. In any case, what matters is having regained my natural position on the bike."
In recent weeks you have also lost several pounds. Is it because of the restriction in movement?
"Throughout the season I kept a weight of about 67 kg. After my first return from injury at Montmelo and in Indonesia, I was around 62 to 63 kg. Now, however, I'm recovering and am at 64. The problem however isn't that. It was the pain that was bothering me. In Indonesia, every time I changed direction I felt pain and the muscles hardened and I couldn't push. At the Red Bull Specialized Center they measured my strength and nerve connections. Some muscles were very tight, but now everything is fixed, I'm much more responsive on the left side. Before there was no connection. In some tracks I couldn't do anything precisely because of this muscle contraction."
In your absence Pol Espargaro replaced you on the RC16. What did you think of his performance?
"He did great. He also took care of my team which is very important and he did very well. In Portugal it was hard for him as he had bad memories. It's good that he was able to ride to forget them. He'll probably be much better now. His performance overall surprised me, especially his performance on Friday."