Team Suzuki Ecstar‰Ûªs Maverick Vinales scored a strong sixth position in the opening race of the 2016 MotoGP season at Losail International Circuit in Qatar tonight aboard his GSX-RR that equaled his best-ever finish in the premier class.
Vi̱ales‰Ûª start was effective, although the first corner saw him drop into seventh position. His early laps were very close to the top, keeping in contact with the leaders, although he was never able to lap in the 1‰Ûª55s; the pace that he showed throughout the weekend.
This led him to lose a few tenths-of-a-second each lap, which saw him lose contact at the head of the race. But he managed to keep hold of sixth position ‰ÛÒ that equalled his previous best result in Catalunya and Australia last season - which gives him solid points in the Championship.
"Finally a sixth place is not a bad result, but it is not enough at this point," Vi̱ales said after the race.
"The whole weekend I had a very good feeling and my race-pace was around 1‰Ûª55, while in the race I couldn‰Ûªt make the same. Honestly, I‰Ûªm not sure why; in the race I couldn‰Ûªt find a proper feeling and I felt the bike sliding a lot, so we definitely need to see the data and understand what changed and happened.
"The positive thing is that for the whole weekend we have been very close to the top, maybe in the race we were a little unlucky because the weekend overall was very positive. I can‰Ûªt wait to go to Argentina and work again on my GSX-RR; we have a lot of potential. If we manage to find better grip and finalise the set-up of the full seamless, for sure we will fight for the top positions.
"I must thank the Factory and the Team, they are doing a huge job to support me and I am sure that if we keep working hard we will find the best solution," Vinales concluded.
Main Photo: Maverick Vinales
