Spielberg, Austria: Yamaha Monster Energy racer Maverick Viñales stares at the 2019 Austrian MotoGP race without high confidence. According to him, the characteristics of the Red Bull Ring Circuit are not ideal for Yamaha motorcycles.
The Red Bull Ring circuit is suitable for motors that have good maximum acceleration and speed. In fact, those two things become Yamaha’s weak points, including this season.
Characteristics of the Red Bull Ring Circuit are more friendly to Ducati’s Desmosedici. Evidently, since Austrian MotoGP returned to the race calendar in 2016 the victory has always been achieved by the Ducati racers.
In the 2018 Austrian MotoGP, Rossi finished only sixth and was about 14 seconds adrift of Jorge Lorenzo who was then a champion. Viñales only finished 12th and was almost 23 seconds adrift of the winner.
“You are aware of the difficulties in acceleration. We are very focused on improving the front of the motorcycle and the feeling of the motorcycle,” Viñales said, as reported by Tuttomoriweb on Wednesday, August 7, 2019.
“I went to Austria with a calm mind and carried motivation as usual. I am not sure the results we will get because this is a difficult track. We will try hard as close as possible to the riders in front and fight,” said Maverick Viñales.
No Significant Improvement Signal
Yamaha’s performance in Austria last season was truly uncompetitive. The Yamaha project leader in MotoGP, Kouji Tsuya, even had to apologize openly to the drivers for failing to provide a competitive motorcycle.
So, can Yamaha make up for the bad moments last season?
Viñales said there was no information about the improvement of Yamaha motorcycle acceleration. So, he did not want to expect too much and choose to focus on the existing motorcycle package.
“In the Brno test we don’t have many new devices to improve acceleration, so we will concentrate on existing motorcycle packages and try to reach the best level,” said Viñales.
