Maverick Vinales: “We were fighting the Ducatis in their own track”

Maverick Vinales’ charge in the Italian MotoGP was cut short by a clumsy move from Franco Morbidelli, but the Tech3 KTM rider took pride in being able to fight the dominant Ducatis at their home track.

Vinales, who had narrowly missed out on top non-Ducati status in qualifying to Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, claimed that accolade in Saturday’s Sprint and felt even stronger in Sunday’s grand prix – until taken out on lap 9.

“I was riding well. We were fighting against the Ducatis in their own track, so that's a really good sign,” Vinales said.

The Spaniard had just overtaken Morbidelli for fourth and was settling into a strong rhythm when the VR46 rider attempted a rash lunge up the inside, colliding with Vinales and sending him crashing out of the grand prix.

Morbidelli was later handed a long lap penalty for the move – then a second for running wide during its execution – but Vinales was left to rue what might have been.

“Overall, it has been a very positive weekend. We are on the level, so that's very important,” he said.

“I keep a really good feeling because it's the first time I was in the front of the race but saving my tyres. So that's a really good sign.

“I was riding very smooth, taking a lot of care on the traction side. And I was there. So that's a good improvement.”

Running close to the Ducatis also gave Vinales a valuable technical insight into the differences between the Desmosedici and his RC16.

“Let’s say in Arrabbiata 1 and 2, corner 5 and 7, where you just keep rolling into the turn, our bike is very strong,” he explained.

“In the corners where you have to keep the brakes on for longer – like corner 12 or 15, the last corner – the Ducati seems a little bit easier when they release the front brake. They turn a little bit easier and keep a lot of corner speed.

“That’s the thing we always see on the data. When you ride with them, we’re now a little bit closer after the modification on the aero spec, but still there is a little bit of margin to improve on that. The rest I felt on their level.”

While Ducati still holds the overall advantage, top speed charts from Mugello showed a surprisingly story, with rival manufacturers all having at least one bike faster than the quickest Ducati, which was only tenth on the list.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi clocked the highest speed of the grand prix at 362.4km/h and led the average speed rankings with 360.0km/h. Fellow RS-GP rider Raul Fernandez was second fastest, followed by the KTMs of Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder.

Johann Zarco was fifth for Honda, while Fabio Quartararo was the top Yamaha in ninth. The fastest Ducati through the speed trap was VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio – in tenth – despite finishing on the podium.

Notably, MotoGP race winner Marc Marquez registered the second-slowest top speed, ahead of only Honda rookie Somkiat Chantra: