maverick vinalez Archives

Dutch MotoGP 2019: Maverick Vinalez Ends Yamaha’s Drought

Maverick Vinalez won at the Dutch MotoGP 2019 round to end Yamaha’s year-long drought of race wins.
Marc Marquez finished in 2^nd place.
Fabio Quartararo finished on the podium again.

Maverick Vinalez (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) won at the Dutch MotoGP 2019 round to end Yamaha’s year-long drought of race wins.

Vinalez had battled all race long with the youngest back-to-back pole sitter Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Sepang Racing Team) and World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda). The trio traded places on and on until Quartararo had to slow down due to incessant speed wobbles. Both Vinalez and Marquez passed him without hesitation, to set up a two-bike battle in the closing laps.

Vinalez finally prevailed from Lap 18 to end the race 5 seconds ahead of Marquez. The latter seemingly slowing down to settle for 2^nd position to protect his lead in the championship. Indeed, he revealed in the post-race interview that his goal was to finish ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) and Danilo Petrucci (Dovizioso’s teammate).

Quartararo made it home in 3^rd for his second podium finish in his first season. He had battled through arm pump to stay ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.

His teammate Franco Morbidelli pushed up the field to pass Petrucci on the final lap to finish 5^th.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) fought back against Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) to grab 6^th.

Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) and Andrea Iannone (Gresini Aprilia) rounded off the top 10.

It was another nightmare race for Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha) who crashed together with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) at high speed. Nakagami was stretchered off the track side.

Marc Marquez had predicted a strong race, if not a victory, but one of the Yamahas after witnessing their pace throughout the weekend. As in the previous race at Catalunya, the Yamahas demonstrated higher midcorner speeds and ease of being flicked side-to-side, fitting the twisting format of the Assen track well. Suzuki also had this advantage but Alex Rins crashed out from the lead on Lap 3.

It was Marquez’s remarkable skills to put the Honda in 2^nd place. The next closest Honda of Cal Crutchlow was way back in 6^th.

The Ducatis couldn’t take advantage of their towering engine power and straightline speed at the Cathedral of Speed. As Dovizioso remarked earlier this season, the Ducati Desmosedici GP19 still has trouble with keeping its line in midcorner, thereby hampering the riders from applying the throttle earlier.

Marquez currently leads the championship with a substantial 44 points clear of Dovizioso in second. Indeed, the cameras caught a despondent-looking Dovizioso sipping his drink in his paddock after the race.

What about Quartararo’s speed wobbles/tank slapper? As pointed out by our veteran journalist friend, both the Yamahas and Suzukis suffered the same problem down the back straight due to the strong crosswind. The two manufacturers’ bikes are set up for quick-steering hence have less stability, compared to the Honda RC213V, Ducati Desmosedici and KTM RC16.

The next round is at Sachsenring, Germany.

MotoGP 2019 Sepang Winter Test: Maverick Vinalez and Yamaha Fastest on Day 2

Monster Yamaha rider Maverick Vinalez was the fastest rider on Day 2 of the MotoGP 2019 Sepang Winter Test.
His blistering time of 1m 58.897s was just 0.067s behind the fastest Winter Test record.
Marc Marquez was relegated to 8^thafter being fastest on Day 1.

The MotoGP 2019 Pre-Season test kicked off at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday. The action continues today with Maverick Vinalez of Monster Energy Yamaha factory teaming claiming the fastest time.

Repsol Honda rider and defending world champion Marc Marquez secured the fastest time on the first day, allaying fears of his recovering shoulder. He put in only 29 before stopping to allow his shoulder to rest, leaving his time of 1m 59.621s on the board for the night.

Marc Marquez at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

But how things can change in less than 24 hours in MotoGP.

Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) started out the day fastest before being toppled by Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnows Ducati) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

Valentino Rossi at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) then took over from Dovizioso. Rins had placed his Suzuki as second fastest yesterday. Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller improved on his times and also went ahead of Dovizioso.

Andrea Dovizioso at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

However, a late charge by Vinalez put him right on top for the day. He was the only rider to lap under the 1m59s mark, with 1m 58.897s. That’s still just 0.067 second to Repsol Honda rider Jorge Lorenzo’s unofficial Sepang record of 1m 58.830s he set during the 2018 Winter Test on a Ducati.

Alex Rins at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

Judging by today’s times, a few riders may well dip under 1m 58s tomorrow if the weather holds. That’s because the top 19 riders were covered by just 1 second!

Cal Crutchlow at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

As for Marquez, he could go no faster than 1m 59.790 with the new engine. The time relegated him to 8^th. His new teammate Jorge Lorenzo is also missing from the test as he nurses his broken scaphoid.

Jack Miller at SIC test – Photo credit MotoGP.com

Apart from Johann Zarco who finished 11^thbest, the other KTM riders languished in the lower positions as they try to tame and sort out the RC16 wild beast.

MotoGP 2019: Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1 Livery Unveiled

The Yamaha factory team is now called the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP.
They also launched the new livery for the 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1 for the MotoGP 2019 season.
Monster Energy takes over from Movistar.

The factory Yamaha MotoGP squad unveiled their new Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP livery and the 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1.

Monster Energy has taken over from Spanish telecommunications company Movistar as the main sponsor of the team. Hence the new livery consists of more black paint matched to the traditional Yamaha racing blue. The energy drink brand was already sponsoring both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinalez prior to this.

2019 here we come!@ValeYellow46 and @mvkoficial12 got their #BeastModeOn.#MonsterYamaha | #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/RPzwK3mKO8

— Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (@YamahaMotoGP) February 4, 2019

Whatever it is, the factory Yamaha team is looking forward to leaping back into contention after a dismal 2018 season. The longest losing streak in the brand’s history was thankfully broken when Vinalez won at Phillip Island.

The dearth of meaningful results even prompted Yamaha’s Project Leader Koiji Tsuya to issue a public apology to the riders, team and fans. He then stepped down last month and replaced by former head of chassis division Takahiro Sumi.

Riders Rossi and Vinalez will finally get to test the new bike during the first Pre-Season Test at the Sepang International Circuit from 6^thto 8^thFebruary.

Valentino Rossi

“I like it very much – Yamaha is always blue, and the blue of the Yamaha is beautiful, but I like the black of Monster because the colour of my soccer team, Inter, so I feel comfortable.”

Maverick Vinalez

“I can’t wait to start, the holidays were already too long,” Vinales said. “I would like to be on the bike. I’m really curious to see the steps forward we did and see if we can push the bike at the maximum already in the first test.”

Valentino Rossi “In trouble and doesn’t know why”

Valentino Rossi reckons he and teammate Maverick Vinalez are “in trouble and don’t know why,” in worried about their chances at the Japanese GP, should the rain continue. The pair has been struggling with lack of rear grip on their Yamaha YZF-M1 through the entire season.

Riders may be able to ride around the problem in the dry, but the rain amplifies the problem.

The factory team seemed to make some headway in previous races, without doubt also attributed to riders’ skill and determination, however yesterday’s free practice sessions at Motegi saw both riders 11^th and 12^th fastest.

Rossi said, “We’re in trouble and we don’t understand why. Last year I was very competitive in the wet and had a good feeling with the old bike, but this year we’re struggling. We’ve tried to modify the bike, but in the end we’re far from the top. It’s the same as the problem in the dry – we don’t have rear grip.”

While Valentino Rossi knows he’s out of contention for his 10^th title as a result of a broken leg, Maverick Vinalez saw first his lead, and now his chances for his first MotoGP tltle slip further and further away.

At the time this article went “live,” Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati Team continued to be the fastest man after FP3 on combined free practice times, ahead of Marc Marquez, Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi dug deep and found some pace to first make it into the top ten before finally going up to fifth fastest. Vinalez is in 14^th, meaning that he will need to fight through Q1. The Top 12 combined times qualify automatically to Q2.

Q1 starts at 1:10pm today (14^th October).

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