Autosportfoto

Vinales warns Yamaha against making further MotoGP chassis changes

Maverick Vinales believes a further change of chassis is not the Yamaha MotoGP squad's best option in attempting to solve the issues it faced in last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Vinales and factory Yamaha team-mate Rossi struggled for rear grip at the Red Bull Ring and both trailed the year-old satellite Tech3 bike of Johann Zarco across the line in sixth and seventh.

After dominating the early part of the season, erstwhile points leader Vinales has not won a race since switching to Yamaha's latest-spec chassis at Assen, and has a solitary podium finish - at Brno - from the past four races.

But the Spaniard believes changins chassis again is not the best way forward for Yamaha, and wants he and his crew to focus on optimising its current package in a one-day Misano test this Sunday before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"The problem is much more significant than now starting to change chassis again," said Vinales.

"Maybe we have to focus on the bike and make it work in some ways.

"We have to make another big change on the set-up and try to see if it works. "I don't want to change chassis, I want to work really hard in Misano and try to be ready for Silverstone."

Asked whether reverting to Yamaha's 2016 chassis - used by tech3 pair Zarco and Jonas Folger - was an option, Vinales replied: "I really don't know.

"The team knows more about the potential of the 2016 [chassis] and the chassis we have now.

"I tried to ride the bike in the best way."

Riding style changes

Vinales said after June's Assen round that the new chassis did not suit his riding style, and has since had to modify his naturally aggressive riding style to suit Yamaha's bike.

"I changed my riding style a little bit, because in the beginning I was braking really hard and opening [the throttle] very aggressively," he said.

"But now I have to be very smooth in all areas to make the laptime.

"I'm a really hard braker and also I go deep into the corners - always. From Moto3 until some races [recently].

"But now, you have to adapt to the bike, try to make the bike work.

"Now I'm trying to make my bike work and I've had to change my riding style a little bit."

Zdroj: autosport.com