Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi will start the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya from the second and third row tomorrow, having secured fourth and seventh place respectively in today’s Q2 session.
Viñales waited for a while to leave pit lane, eager to find some clear space on track. When he found it he put it to good use, setting a 1’39.835s for second place on his very first hot lap. He improved his time on his next try, but not his placement, and was in fifth when he headed into the pits with seven minutes remaining.
A little more than a minute later he went back to business. He moved up to third position on his next attempt, with a 1’39.145s, but was pushed down to fourth as the pace quickened in the final stages. Knowing that every tenth of a second matters in MotoGP, he kept pushing hard but remained in fourth place, 0.465s from pole.
Maverick Viñales:
“For sure I expected a little bit more in the qualifying, but I’m actually happy about our work in FP4. I was working in race set-up and we were pretty close to the top. I think tomorrow we’ll have to make a good start from the beginning. In the qualifying it was a little bit tricky with the front tyre, it was sliding a lot, and I couldn’t make my best lap. Anyway, I’m happy, overall, and let’s see tomorrow. We have to go with the best tyre and push.”
