Maverick Vinales finished up fourth at the end of Day 1 of the Phillip Island test after topping the timesheets initially and then holding second for much of the session – until a late spate of time attacks from his rivals pushed him back to fourth.
Having gone quickest at the first test of the year at Sepang International Circuit, Viñales didn’t do a fast lap towards the end of the session in Australia – with his 1:29.990 proving the best of 64 laps.
“About today, I think I can be happy in one area.” Said the Yamaha new recruit “On the race pace and basic set-up we made a good step, I feel comfortable.”
“We didn‘t set a fast lap time at the end of the session, in the last ten minutes we went back in the box.” He added.
“We still have time until Qatar to be fast and try to improve the bike and I think our objective here is to be consistent and really fast.”