Movistar Yamaha Progress on Thailand Test Day Two
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20/02/2018
Today the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team have wrapped up the second day of testing at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand. Both riders spent the available time fine-tuning their bikes' settings and finished in 4th and 14th place respectively in the combined timesheets.
Similar to yesterday, Viñales left pit lane early for his first run, determined to improve on the time he set yesterday aboard his YZR-M1, and to collect useful data in preparation for the forthcoming season.
The young Spaniard worked hard all day, riding a total of 90 laps, as he tweaked the set-up and tested two different Michelin tyre specifications. He had a bit of a breakthrough in the final half hour of the session and set a 1'30.274s on lap 84. His efforts put him in fourth place in both today's and the combined rankings, 0.305s from the top.
Maverick Viñales
Position: 4th - Time: 1'30.274 - Laps: 90
"It took us a bit of time to understand how to run the bike here. In the afternoon I started to feel good and was able to ride with a good pace. We changed some things at the last moment and it seemed to be an improvement, so maybe that's the direction we should continue to follow tomorrow - we want to confirm it. I followed my own feelings and created my own set-up and that's what made me feel good - when I have my bike and I can ride it with my own riding style. Tomorrow we will check the setting and we have to improve the rhythm. I think we made an incredible step in the afternoon and riding consistent 1'30s is the most important. We also tried two different tyre specs today and tomorrow we'll do the other two and we will see."
Massimo Meregali
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director
"It was another day of hard work for us. We tried many things to improve the riders' feeling on the bike. They each worked in their own direction. The riders also tried some of the four rear tyre specifications that Michelin brought here to test. We have still one more day of testing to complete, so we will see what the riders' verdict is tomorrow."
