Maverick Vinales: Many people were doubting me in MotoGP…

Maverick Vinales insists he always retained belief in himself despite his patchy run of form leading up to a return to winning ways during the Emilia Romagna MotoGP in Misano.

The Spaniard fired himself right back into title contention with a timely first win of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship season, in so doing becoming the sixth different winner in seven races.

However, it came off the back of some questionable form, not least in Misano a week earlier when he slipped back from pole position down to a distant sixth place as he struggled to get his tyres up to performance early on, a trope that has afflicted the Yamaha rider on several occasions.

Though his win on this occasion could be considered fortuitous one after Pecco Bagnaia crashed out of the lead in the closing stages, the Spaniard was pleased to rest some demons even if he always retained belief in himself.

"It was good, especially because many people were doubting me a lot on Sunday," he admitted. "Most of the people think it's my mentality, but my mentality is exactly the same as the other weekends.

"I have that winning mentality and honestly, I didn't find the confidence in the bike to push from the beginning."

While the sheer openness of this year’s title race thus far leaves him reluctant to begin making too many predictions, he feels he and Yamaha are well positioned moving forward.

"I don't think too much about the championship, I think about enjoying myself, to enjoy myself on the bike and to push the bike at the maximum.

"We need to prepare the bike really well for next year and this year every race we are learning something, because it is very important to be attentive and to learn for the next races."