Maverick Vinales explains why he “cheered for Quartararo” on Assen sighting lap

Maverick Vinales has revealed why he gave Fabio Quartararo a thumbs-up on the Dutch MotoGP Sprint sighting lap, rallying behind his former Yamaha team-mate in hopes of a Ducati upset.

As pole-sitter Quartararo followed Vinales to the grid, the KTM rider turned and raised his hand in support – a moment caught by the TV cameras and shared widely on social media.

“In the sighting lap, I cheered for Fabio Quartararo, because someone has to beat the Ducatis, and he was in a good position to do it, so this is why I gave him a little thumb, which you all saw!" Vinales explained.

Quartararo, who had taken his fourth MotoGP pole of the season, initially held off Marc Marquez during a battle at Turn 1, before the Ducati rider burst through at the end of the opening lap.

Quartararo was quickly shuffled back to fourth, then fell in the closing stages.

Meanwhile, KTM “newbie” Vinales began the race from tenth after a tough qualifying.

“Qualifying was a bit difficult, because I feel like we hit a wall and I could not ride the way I wanted,” said the Spaniard. “I could not bring out the maximum of the bike, but I am still a newbie on the KTM.”

The Spaniard, again the top RC16 rider, made solid progress over the 13-lap race to finish sixth.

“The Sprint was positive. We showed a good rhythm and we gathered good data for Sunday,” he added. “It will be important to pick the right tyres, because the front dropped a lot today.”

Team-mate Enea Bastianini had a far tougher outing, crossing the line 13th. 

The Italian will start three places lower than his qualifying position in the grand prix after being handed a grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line during Qualifying 1, disturbing Alex Rins.

“We did not have the day we wanted for sure, because we expected to be much faster,” said Bastianini. “We have checked all the data after the Sprint, and my riding style was not bad, but I kept losing speed when entering the fast corners, which is a bit strange.

“We have to understand if it is coming from the aero – it is a bit tricky to point exactly where it is coming from, but I hope that we can find something positive for tomorrow morning.

“Anyway, let's see what we can do. We will give our best as usual to try to gain as many positions as we can on Sunday.”

Ducati has won every Sprint race so far this season, although Honda (Johann Zarco, Le Mans) and Aprilia (Marco Bezzecchi, Silverstone) have inflicted a grand prix defeat.