Maverick Vinales: “My body started to remember how to ride a MotoGP bike”

Maverick Vinales’ body “started to remember how to ride the MotoGP” during the race weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Catalan track is maybe not considered among the most physical on the MotoGP calendar, but the Catalan Grand Prix weekend was among the most demanding of the season given it was turned into a four-day event by the post-race test on Monday.

Despite the extended period of riding, Vinales – who hadn’t raced since round two in Brazil before the Catalunya race as a result of surgery to address loose metalwork in the shoulder he injured at Sachsenring last July – was able to complete the weekend, including the test, and end the four days with a positive reflection on his physical condition.

“Every day better – better and better,” Maverick Vinales said, speaking to MotoGP.com after the test on Monday.

“I’m quite surprised, in a positive way, because the shoulder reacts really good every day.

“Now it’s four days in a row with MotoGP and I have good strength, good mobility – that’s a really good sign. We are on the correct way of the recovery. 

“Every day I felt really good with the bike, seems that my body started to remember how to ride fast the MotoGP.”

Vinales added that he was able to try some new items on the bike during the Monday test.

“Today was a good day, we tried some new stuff that the guys tried in Jerez test and [kept] – I like it, so that’s very positive,” the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider said.

“The team work in a good way. Still I need to find some fine tuning on the setup, but I’m quite positive about the test.”

He added that the new pieces were “new aero and then some different suspension settings that I also like,” and that he will use them in the next race at Mugello if he can.

“If the team is able, so if KTM is able to do the material, I will put it [the new aero and suspension settings], yes, because it’s much better,” he said.

“But in one or two races I will have all the updates and for sure we expect in Mugello to do another step in terms of physical condition, so I’m quite aiming to arrive soon to my best.”