Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales says he will “will copy exactly everything” used this weekend by his team-mate Fabio Quartararo.
This U-turn on Vinales’ previous approach is the latest attempt to drag himself out of the hole that saw him finish last weekend’s German Grand Prix in last place – barely three months after he took a commanding victory in the season-opening Qatar GP.
He had insisted at the Sachsenring last weekend that simply bolting on his team-mate’s settings wasn’t the solution to his issues, saying “if I really want to win I have to do it with my own motorcycle. Someone else’s settings are not the solution”.
But now Vinales will attempt that strategy this weekend at the Dutch TT in Assen, as a last resort to find a solution to his woes.
“For sure my solution will be put the same bike as Fabio, exactly the same, same electronics, same clicks, same suspension, same everything, and see what is going on,” he explained when asked about the approach by The Race.
“Because at the end, we don’t answer anything [so far]. So here in Assen I will copy exactly everything. Everything. And then we’ll see where we are.
“It should not be like this, you know what I mean?
“It should be that you try to make the bike for your riding style – but in this team I always follow the rest.
“And I am forced to do it, because I cannot continue in this way. Losing time, wasting time, and losing the feeling with the bike. At the end I’m losing the feeling.
“In Germany I crashed without a reason, without banking, without pushing the front brake.
“Every rider is different, I don’t think it’s the correct way. But… if he wants to go like us, it’s no problem” :: Fabio Quartararo
“This weekend I will try. If he puts on stronger suspension, I will do the same. More preload – I will do the same. I will do exactly the same.
“I will need to adapt. It’s true that maybe it will take races, but at least I will race with the same as the guy I have on the other side of the garage.”
But Quartararo is doubtful whether Vinales will actually gain anything from copying his bike.
“I think every rider is different, for me I don’t think it’s the correct way,” said the championship leader.
“Let’s say for me the bike is working super well, I’m super happy about the bike.
“Like I said, in Sachsenring it was not the best track for us but we were able to be fast, but here I think is a track that he has always been fast in, he’s the last winner from 2019.
“I think even if he works in his way he can go fast. But… if he wants to go like us, it’s no problem.”
The radical reversal in set-up tactics comes as Vinales admits that he’s completely unable to find any other solution, even after the dramatic decision to switch crew chiefs ahead of the Barcelona round.
Sacking long-term friend Esteban Garcia in return for Valentino Rossi’s former employee Silvano Galbusera, it’s a move that clearly failed to pay off over the following two races.
“It’s just that it felt very disrespectful for me, as a rider, because I’ve never been in this position before, to finish last in one race,” he explained of his belief that Yamaha isn’t giving him the bike that he needs to be competitive.
“The problem is, every time I try to find one solution, the answer is the same, it’s ‘I don’t know’. We need a little bit more. And we will try for sure to find something more, because we have many problems.
“For me what is strange is Qatar. This is very strange, you know? How I can be with that superiority from the rest, and then everything is gone? I went from first to last.
“Maybe here I can be first again, you know what I mean? It’s pretty strange, and as a rider it’s so complicated to keep the motivation.
“For sure I give up many times with this, because I really don’t understand. I really try to work, really try to work smart, calm.
“In the end the answer is I don’t know. It’s tough to accept that, at the end, we don’t know what is going on.
“I’m always asking the same, why in Qatar the bike was working acceptable and now it’s in that position? So, for me it’s pretty strange and difficult to accept.”
