Maverick Vinales: “I was closing on Pecco and Fabio, but…”

Francesco Bagnaia and a podium almost within reach for Maverick Vinales i𝓀n the Spanish MotoGP, before ꦑbanking his best KTM finish.

Maverick Vinales, 2025 Spanish MotoGP
Maverick Vinales, 2025 Spanish MotoGP

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Maverick Vinales came tantalisingly close to another KTM MotoGP pod﷽ium in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, before bankiꦬng his best official Tech3 result with fourth place.

Stripped of secondꦉ at Lusail by a post-race tyre pressure penalty, Vinales rose from seventh to fourth early in the Jerez race, then began chasing down Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo ahead🃏.

The Spaniard looked poised to mount a late rostrum challen൩ge, but after repeatedly struggling in the dirty air he opted to🍌 hold station for his best Jerez result since 2020.

"We are realꦰly happy with tod💖ay's race, and the weekend in general which we have really turned in the right direction," Vinales said. "Especially after being out of Q2 on Friday.

“Today in the race, I had a rea💫lly good pace, I was even recovering on Pecco and Fabio Quartararo in the end.

“I was very fast in t🌌he fast corners, also on the traction side. So I closed the gap to them, but every time I got too close, it was so hard to stop the bike.

“So then I’d drop back, the bike would work well a🌃gain and I’d catch up. Then I’d get close and have to drop back again. Like elastic!

“When I saw tw🌠o laps to go, I said, ‘OK Maverick, today you need to ⛎be satisfied with 4th position’.”

Vinales, Bagnaia, Quartararo, 2025 Spanish MotoGP
Vinales, Bagnaia, Quartararo, 2025 Spanish MotoGP

Vinales took the chequered flag just 3.678s behind race wi🐽nner Alex Marquez and improved on his 2024 Jerez race time, when riding for Aprilia, by over nine seconds.

“Happy to take 4th place for the team and for KTM," he add♉ed. "We are working well, we have found a really good base since Argentina. We are building up.

“There will be some tracks where we have higher potential, some less. Also myself. Jerez was one of the least, so I’m quite happy𓃲. It’s a long time since I’ve been fourth in Jerez! It’s a really good result.

“We♒ are in a totally different position from when we started the championship but there is more to learn and room to i♑mprove.

“Tomorrow during the test, we will focus on details mainly and also try to improve ourselves on the braking. We🌠 still need to learn and understand the bike, so we have plenty of work on Monday!"

Lap times for the top 5 finishers in the Spanish MotoGP
Lap times for the top 5 finishers in the Spanish MotoGP

Tech3 team manager Nicolas Goyon said𒀰:  "A big bravo to Maverick Viñales who has shown good form all weekend, to finish with a 4th place today.

“He rode at a very s🍨imilar pace to the top guys at tꦚhe front, which is a huge positive boost for our project and our package, so congratulations to him."

Vinales was the first of four KTMs inside the top nine at Jerez, completed by team-mate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Enea Bastianini, who produced another impress😼ive S🧔unday comeback from 18th.

"We can be happy with our final result especiall🐼y after the weekend we have had," Bastianini said. 

"I felt confident in the first part of the race, but the vibrations of the bike in the fast corners were really difficult to manage, and I lost a bit of the feeling at some point. Still, I managed to overtake a fe♊w riders and I felt much better after."

Like Vinales, 💎the Italian is eyeing Monday’s Jerez test as a crucial opportunity to make a step forward.

"We have an important test tomorrow, we have important things to try out to increase our performance so I am looking forward to that," he added. "After that, we will go to Le Mans, one of my favourite tracks and my team’s home round where I want to be coꦑmpetitive, so let’s get the work done tomorrow!"

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