Vinales 'a bit damaged but OK' after 130mph fall
Home of his team-mate and title rival it may be, but Maverick Vi?ales could thank the lucky stars looking down on Mugello, as the Catalan suffered a terrifying fall at Arrabbiata 2 before walking away largely unharmed.
A bandage concealing a small wound on Vi?ales' right arm was the only physical evidence on show of a fall that occurred at around 130mph. While the 22-year old admitted the fact he was "on the limit on the curb" as the cause of the fall, a feeling with the front tyre that was far from ideal with a full tank of fuel led him concerned.
Vi?ales was using the medium compound in this weekend's allocation at the time of the fall, a tyre that has an asymmetric design with its right side using a considerably harder compound than the left. Thus he spoke of the need to make Michelin's soft front tyre work for Sunday's 23-lap race.
"For that crash, I am OK," he began. "A bit damaged but OK. I don't know, I was pushing in the lap, I didn't have the best feeling in the front, especially on the right side, but I said, okay, maybe full tank, I had to make more laps.
"Maybe it was time to go to box, but anyway I decided to stay in the track, giving no chances to the front tyre. It's true, I crashed in the kerb, no, not on the asphalt. Maybe it was not the same grip.
"But anyway I was feeling much more comfortable on the left side and in the soft compound. Finally, the crash is because I was on the limit on the kerb, no?
"Today, I crashed, I just wanted to turn because I didn't want to ride through the gravel, I wanted to turn, that's why I damaged my arm. But anyway luckily I walk away, very luckily because corner's really fast. Not much to say, just I did a mistake and I hope I can learn from that.
"It [the curb] is a critical point but anyway I think much better with the soft compound. Tomorrow I'm going to work with that, see if I can use it in the race, because anyway the bike works better with the soft compound, there's more grip in the front."
The current championship leader by a margin of 17 points enjoyed an otherwise positive day. Third in FP1, Vi?ales was content with his afternoon pace, despite slipping to 13th in the closing minutes.
"I'm using the same set-up than Le Mans," he said. "It's very similar, and I was feeling very good before - and then after the crash I had a very different bike so was difficult to compare. But even there I was feeling that I could keep 1m 48.0, 47-high on the pace. It's a good pace. Still we have to improve.
"This morning for sure I was feeling better because of the soft front tyre, but I feel good - set-up is good, bike is there, so we have to make the correct choice on the tyres, we have to be really intelligent tomorrow and then for the race."
