Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi top Friday timesheets at Andalucia GP
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi shared positive feelings today at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto, as the duo worked on tyre degradation and race pace. Their confidence was bolstered for Sunday‘s Gran Premio de Andalucía, having made it a 1-2 for the team in the combined free practice results.
Viñales continued to make strides in FP2. He already showed he had the pace in the cooler morning session, but his speed in the hotter conditions was also up to par. The Spaniard worked mainly on preparing for Sunday‘s race, determined to take part in another thrilling battle at the front. He clocked a 1‘38.107s on lap 20/24, which earned him 5th place in the FP2 timesheets, 0.392s off the fastest time. However, his morning result, a 1‘37.063s, secured him 1st position in the combined free practice timesheets with a 0.142s margin over his closest rival, which happens to be his team-mate.
Rossi started the FP2 session with used tyres and the sole aim to check if the improvement he found this morning would also increase his feeling with the tyres in the afternoon heat. Staying inside the top 10 for most of the session, The Doctor confirmed that the feeling with the bike was more to his liking. His 1’38.292s fastest lap, set on lap 23/23, put him in 8th place, 0.577s from P1. But his 1‘37.205s from this morning kept him in 2nd position in the combined times, 0.142s from the top.
Maverick Viñales:
Today I felt really good on the bike. We tried a new set-up, which is an improvement, and this is the most important thing. Lap by lap and practice by practice I‘m feeling better. So, we need to keep working in this way, because I think that‘s the way to bring the bike to the top. This afternoon I was working on the hard and the medium tyre. We need to understand how all the tyre specs work for us, because it will be really hot on Sunday, so we need to know what we can do. But the feeling is great with any tyre. We also worked a lot on the front tyre, and the feeling is good – better than it was last week. For sure, on Sunday we will have another tyre discussion, but in any case, I feel comfortable with the bike. I think we made an improvement compared to last week. I think this is a good test for us, we never raced at the same track twice in a row. The most important thing is to understand how we do better on race day.
Valentino Rossi:
It‘s a positive Friday, because we changed something in the setting of the bike, and I feel better. I feel more comfortable, I can ride in a better way, and I improved my pace. So, this morning was very good. In the afternoon, with the hotter temperatures, I suffered a bit more. But anyway, it was not so bad, and I was able to keep a good pace also with the used tyres. It‘s not easy, because there are a lot of riders who are very fast, but also our pace is not bad. As always, tomorrow morning will be crucial. It will be very important to find the right spot to make the right lap time to stay in the top 10. We‘ll have to try. I feel better with the bike compared to last week. We have to work because in some corners I‘m not fantastic. But anyway, it was a positive day.
