Vinales 'fighting with myself'
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Maverick Vinales took his first MotoGP podium since the summer break, and reclaimed fifth in the world championship from Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, with a lonely ride to third place at Silverstone.Although Vinales crossed the line just 0.6s from a thrilling victory showdown between Alex Rins and Marc Marquez, he was only able to spectate.Vinales moved into third by passing Rossi on lap 7 of 20, but the leading duo had already broken clear and the absence of a slipstream again exposed the M1’s lack of top speed.”I made a race by my own, fighting with myself lap by lap,” Vinales said. “In this track when you’re alone it’s very difficult to keep the rhythm, to keep focused, to be strong. That’s why I’m happy.”We could not ask for more. This track is one of the worst for the engine, so we need to keep working. We have very positive points and very weak points on our bike, so we have to work on the weak points.”Without the aid of a slipstream, Vinales was only able to gain ground when the battle for victory heated up between the Suzuki and Honda in the closing stages.”I started to catch them when they started to fight. If not, it was very difficult because we were riding in the same way. I was alone so I didn’t have the slipstream, which I thought I could get from the beginning and be closer to them,” Vinales said.”I think we took all the maximum and even more, because looking at the lap times I was very close to the top guys. So this is the maximum from the bike.”Vinales estimated he was losing “0.3, 0.4 every lap” on the straights, something that will be hard to solve for the remainder of this season due to the engine freeze. But he’s pleased with how the M1’s chassis is developing:”We are improving in the races especially with our grip. I feel if we make another step on the chassis we can fight to [win] races. This week’s Misano test will be important. We will have new items that I think will be really good for my riding style.”Yamaha’s 2020 prototype should also be back on track at the Misano test.
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