New issues discovered for KTM in wet French MotoGP race
KTM bags big points in Le Mans MotoGP race
Maverick Vinales says the wet French Grand Prix led to the discovery of a new issue with his KTM MotoGP bike his Tech3 team ‘doesn’t know why’ it happened.
Maverick Vinales brushed off a double long lap penalty for switching to slick tyres at the end of the sighting lap and then an additional trip through the pits for his wet bike to finish fifth in the rain-hit French GP.
It marked a continuation of the consistent frontrunning pace Vinales has shown in recent rounds, with the Spaniard branding it “a pretty amazing race”.
KTM find new problems at French MotoGP
However, he noted that his bike suffered with wheelspin on wet tyres which his Tech3 KTM team needs to discover the cause of.
“It was pretty amazing all the race,” he told MotoGP’s official website.
“I think it was a fantastic show. I was feeling really good with the soft tyres.
“On the dry I was really pushing.
“Unfortunately we got two long laps, but before the long laps I was fighting for the podium already and with a lot of chances to go for the first positions.
“But when we put the wet tyres on, when we changed the bike, we don’t know why but we had a lot of issues, especially on the main straight.
“The tyre kept spinning and I never got the drive to go forward.
“It’s something we must understand. It’s obvious that it’s the first time it happened for us, and also the first time I rode a race in the wet with KTM.
“So, we need the experience but overall the results are great. P4, P5, we need these solid results to keep building.”
Fellow KTM rider Pedro Acosta grabbed his best result of the season in fourth to cap off a promising return to form weekend for the 20-year-old.
“Stressful, that’s for sure,” Acosta said of his race.
“Not easy to know when to go in and to have the best strategy or the best moment to go in.
“Anyway, we have to be happy. In the sprint race we were quite competitive, also today even with the wrong decision of the tyre.
“We were quite competitive, so for this we have to be happy.”
