Maverick Viñales: “I would still choose Yamaha”
Maverick Viñales arrives at the end of the 2016 season with a chance of finishing third in the standings. In his second year in MotoGP, the Team Suzuki Ecstar rider has the chance to beat Jorge Lorenzo and finish ahead of him in the championship standings. The easiest mathematical formula to get it is to go through the second place and wait for Lorenzo to not get any points, but the goal of the weekend is another: “Of course I want to win this last race,” said the Catalan.
“If we continue working we’ve been doing until now, I think we have the possibility [of cutting points to Jorge Lorenzo]. Last year I was quite fast in Valencia and the bike has improved, so I think we can be competitive”, he explains.
The #25 summarized the season, and for him one of the keys of the year is that “has been a championship passed by water”. For this reason, “the right tire choice has played very badly, but it has been funny”.
At the Circuito Ricardo Tormo Maverick faces his last GP as a Suzuki employee, but when asked if it is a special race, he talks about the Asian races: “Special was also great, where we could make two podiums and we were riding to the maximum. This weekend is a bit more difficult, we will have to be at the maximum and give 100% to get the best taste on Sunday. ”
Yamaha, just around the corner
Next Tuesday will be the first test day of the 2016 preseason, and Maverick will be one of the main characters, but insists that his mind is focused on the next three days: “Right now I’m just trying to think about the weekend, in giving my maximum, taking advantage of the Suzuki and taking it to the maximum, as well as trying to bring it to the podium”.
Regarding the Suzuki’s competitiveness, he was asked about his choice, and the answer was clear: “Yes [I would still choose to go to Yamaha]. It’s a personal choice for my sports career and it’s a path I want to take. ”
The GSX-RR, to be in front
Viñales says he leaves “a podium Suzuki” for Iannone and Rins, but believes they will need an adaptation period: “Iannone comes from Ducati and Rins comes from Moto2. At first it is a little difficult to find the sensations. Know where the limit of the bike is, but I think they will do well. They are very fast riders and the bike is easy to drive, although it is difficult to reach the limits. I have advised Rins to take it calmly. It is really difficult to get up, go fast and understand everything. You learn it little by little. ”
Next year, Suzuki will not have some advantages that they have enjoyed throughout 2016, but the future partner of Valentino Rossi defends that he doesn’t feel guilty for leaving it without concessions, like the ones of the extra engines or the freedom to test because of the results they have achieved in this campaign. “Next year will be rivals.”
To conclude, Maverick has confirmed that RedBull will not continue to be his sponsor next year, because Monster Energy is sponsor of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.
