Vinales “pissed off” over Yamaha’s starts to MotoGP races

Vinales qualified second for last weekend’s season-opener at Losail, but dropped to sixth at the end of the first lap after four Ducatis and Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo jumped him.

Race starts were a prominent feature of Vinales’ Qatar test and practice programme, and though his launch wasn’t bad it simply wasn’t enough to counteract the brute force of the Ducati off the line.

Part of this is down to Yamaha not having the front holeshot device Ducati, Honda, KTM and Aprilia have.

Though Vinales was able to work his way back through the pack and win the race, he admits the effort he has to put in to do this simply “complicates” matters.

Maverick Vinales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: MotoGP

“At least I think the start was good, so the numbers were good,” he said ahead of this weekend’s Doha GP.

“Just I think our competitors were fantastic. I cannot do more with what we have.

“For sure we will try to improve, or at least try to make another improvement this weekend.

“But we can see that the front start device makes a huge difference because the Ducatis are starting much faster than last year.

“So, we will try to make that improvement. I think Yamaha is working hard to try to have it as soon as possible.

“But for sure I’m pissed off because it complicates the race a lot.

“When you are on the front, you can have not an easier race but you can control the tyres much more.

“When you are [coming from] the back, you just need to run out all the time and push the rear to overtake the other riders.

“So, for sure it’s something we have to pay attention to and we are obligated to improve in that area.”

Vinales starts this weekend’s Doha GP leading the championship for the first time since his maiden season with Yamaha back in 2017, when he won three of the opening five rounds of the campaign.