Maverick Vinales planned to “stop” in Sepang MotoGP Sprint before bike swap gamble
Maverick Vinales says he was planning to retire from the Sepang MotoGP Sprint before swapping to his rain bike.
A bike swap was not the intention behind Maverick Vinales’ pit entry in the Sepang MotoGP Sprint, he says.
Vinales had enjoyed a strong Friday in Malaysia, speed-wise, but even after finishing in the top-10 in MotoGP Practice he admitted that he might sacrifice the Sprint to save energy for the grand prix on Sunday.
This, indeed, turned out to be Vinales’ plan, but he changed his mind last minute on seeing his spare bike prepared for wet weather in pit lane.
“To be honest, in the Sprint, I tried to get the rhythm and see how the bike was working for tomorrow, and then I went in and the plan was to stop,” Maverick Vinales told MotoGP.com after the Malaysia Sprint.
“But I saw the bike ready on wet and I said ‘Okay, I go out,’ because it was starting to rain.
“I think after the chequered flag it started to rain like crazy.”
Ultimately the rain didn’t come early enough for Vinales, or for the other riders who switched bikes, and after two days of riding Vinales is already focused on recovery.
“I feel much less power on the arm,” the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider said, compared Saturday to Friday.
“Anyway, I know now I need to recover a lot because two weekends in a row is very tough for me. So, I need to recover to make the muscles grow.
“But, however, I understand that the bike, you need a lot of strength to ride it, especially the bike I rode.”
MotoGP is due to race again next week at the Qatar Grand Prix in Lusail. Riders have voiced their opposition to racing in the Middle East given the current conflict in the region, but reports emerged today of potential race bans for riders who choose not to take part in the Qatari race.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
