Maverick Vinales: "This is the way of progress"

Racing for the first time since his Qatar heroics, Maverick Vinales couldn't repeat his podium charge during the Spanish MotoGP Sprint, but he did again emerge as the top non-Ducati rider.

After battling through Q1 for a second consecutive event, Vinales matched his Qatar grid slot with sixth in qualifying, then claimed seventh at the end of the 12-lap Sprint.

Fabio Quartararo’s early crash meant Vinales was best of the rest after an all-Desmosedici top six.

Although 7.8s behind race winner Marc Marquez, Vinales finished in the wheeltracks of another GP25 rider, Fabio di Giannantonio, while comfortably fending off the top Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi and leading Honda of Joan Mir.

The next best KTM rider, Pedro Acosta, was almost five seconds adrift of Vinales.

“The day has been really positive for us,” said Vinales, who kicked off Saturday with second place to Marc Marquez in final practice.

“This morning I had one of my best sessions since joining KTM. The bike balance, the front and rear grip - everything was there.

“This afternoon, with the hot temperature and lower grip, it was more difficult to stop and turn the bike. I wasn’t able to follow in the first few laps, but then the lap times came back.”

A key factor compared to Qatar was the rising heat at Jerez, rather than falling temperatures as the sun went down at Lusail.

“With the hot temperature, the grip went down and it was a bit more tricky to stop the bike, to turn and I wasn't able to follow the others for the first 4 laps,” he said.

Nonetheless, he was setting lap times close to the leaders by the closing stages of the Sprint.

“We must be happy. This is the way of progress. I was catching di Giannantonio towards the end - maybe with more laps we could have done even more.”

More laps is exactly what Vinales will have on Sunday, when the race distance is doubled for the full grand prix.

Despite some riders, including team-mate Enea Bastianini, suggesting the KTM can feel ‘nervous’, Vinales feels the opposite: “Coming from Aprilia, the KTM feels more stable for me.”

However, he warned there’s still work to do: “Two points we must improve for the future are vibrations and closing the corner when I release the front brake. If we focus on those, we’ll make a big step.”

Work on both those areas will take place in Monday's post-race test, before which Tech3 KTM Team Manager Nicolas Goyon set the following goals for Sunday: “We’re confident he can aim for a top five.”

Bastianini, meanwhile, finished only 14th in the Sprint.

Goyon said: “Enea Bastianini is sadly still struggling with the one lap, and the story is always different from P18 on the grid.

“He did an OK sprint today with P14, but everyone wants more, including himself, and I am sure that he will look for a strong performance on the long distance."