Viñales used FP1 to reproduce his strong form at COTA from last year. Though the forceful thrust of the MotoGP bikes made the dust fly everywhere in the first free practice session, the 23-year-old was quick to show a competitive pace. He worked diligently on his bike’s settings throughout the morning and put his head down in the final stages. He earned third place in the FP1 results, with a 2’06.257s best time and a 0.727s margin to the top.

Feeling encouraged by his strong start in FP1, the Spaniard gave another strong performance during the second 45-minute session. Having bettered his bike, he soon dropped a 2’07s lap and went on to secure third place in the final minute, setting a 2’04.863s lap, 0.264s from the front.

 

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammates’ FP2 results earned them the third and fourth place respectively in the combined times, ahead of tomorrow’s sessions.

Maverick Viñales:

“FP2 went quite well and I’m quite happy over all, even considering we didn’t try the soft at the end because in the beginning I didn’t feel good on the soft on the first laps. I still think we could have had good potential on the soft. So, I think we still have a margin to improve. We started better than we did on the previous two tracks. I hope we can go faster and have a bit more stable bike for tomorrow.”