MotoGP

Gresini MotoGP boss Fausto Gresini has shown signs of ‘slight improvement’ having been placed into a medically-induced coma due to COVID-19. The veteran MotoGP team boss was admitted to hospital on 27 December in Imola, Italy, after testing positive for COVID-19 just before Christmas. He was subsequently transferred to a hospital in Bologna to a specialist COVID ward as his condition deteriorated, with the Gresini team confirming he was placed into a coma due to low blood oxygen saturation levels. In a statement issued on Friday evening, the team says Gresini’s condition has improved enough to the point doctors are beginning “a slow awakening process”. “The conditions of Fausto Gresini – who was transported to the Carlo Alberto Pizzardi hospital in Bologna on 30 December – are slightly improving,” the statement read. “After his arrival at the hospital (Intensive Care Department of Prof. Cilloni) with very low blood oxygen saturation levels, the Gresini Racing Team Principal was induced into a pharmacological coma and received an endotracheal intubation to help organs’ oxygenation. “During the last few hours, in light of stable and improving general conditions, the doctors decided to begin a slow awakening process to allow independent lung ventilation. “Further updates will follow.” COVID-19 forced the 2020 MotoGP season to be delayed from its original March start date to July, with a new 14-round calendar centred in Europe implemented. MotoGP enforced strict protocols within the paddock to quell the spread of the virus, although several high-profile names still caught COVID-19 away from circuits. New Pramac MotoGP rider Jorge Martin was forced to miss the Misano Moto2 double-header after becoming the first rider to catch the virus, with nine-time grand prix world champion Valentino Rossi ruled out of the Aragon rounds after testing positive. Tech3 rider Iker Lecuona missed the last round of 2020 having tested positive for COVID-19, which came after a two-race layoff when his brother tested positive for the virus. The Gresini team will remain Aprilia’s official factory entrant in 2021, but announced in December it would once again be an independent outfit from 2022 – having last raced as a satellite squad in 2014 with Honda machinery. As a result, Aprilia will become a proper factory team from 2022.

Tech 3 MotoGP team boss Herve Poncharal admits he got “a little bit angry” when rumours of Andrea Dovizioso replacing Iker Lecuona for 2021 emerged during the 2020 season.Lecuona was drafted in to take the place intended for Brad Binder at Tech 3 in 2020 when KTM opted to move the South African into its factory squad to replace Johann Zarco. Admitting to Motorsport.com that his move to MotoGP perhaps came “too early”, having only made his Moto2 debut at the age of 16 in 2016, 20-year-old Lecuona managed three top 10s in his maiden premier class season on his way to 20th in the championship. Vastly inexperienced relative to his rookie contemporaries Binder and Alex Marquez who had 145 and 135 grand prix starts ahead of 2020 compared to Lecuona’s 56 – rumours emerged mid-season KTM could move Lecuona back to Moto2 and take on outgoing Ducati star Dovizioso. Dovizioso and KTM held discussions over a 2021 ride in the pre-season, but those talks came to nothing. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Poncharal says he was angered at having to field repeated questions on Lecuona’s future despite KTM confirming his 2021 place in the pre-season. “The good thing with Iker is he trusts the team and he trusts me a lot,” Poncharal said. “And I told him: ‘Iker, it doesn’t matter what you hear, it doesn’t matter all the bullshit you hear or read. “’Consult with yourself on your job and I’m telling you, you are my rider in 2020 and you will be my rider in ’21, 100%. So, don’t pay too much attention to this’. “Some journalists who also think they are a little bit [like] superstars kept on asking [about Dovizioso replacing Lecuona], and I was at some stage a little bit angry because it doesn’t matter how many time you say [it’s not happening], you feel there is sometimes a higher force or a higher person behind myself that is going to tell me to change [my line-up].” Dovizioso raced for Tech 3 in its Yamaha days in 2012, scoring six podiums, with Poncharal confessing he has “so much respect” for the Italian. But the Frenchman insists returning Lecuona to Moto2 in 2021 in favour of Dovizioso was never an option. “Andrea spoke with KTM during the winter and they didn’t manage to find an agreement,” he adds. “But then in August they [the media] were coming to me and I told everybody and the journalists, it’s a lack of respect [these rumours]. “We have a contract signed with Iker and why should we tell him to go back to Moto2? Riders are not toilet paper that you take and throw away. “We took him from Moto2, we took a big risk because it would have been easier to keep him in Moto2 one more year to try to win races and why not the championship, then move to MotoGP. “So, he followed us, he trusted us and after a year where he started to show his potential, we tell him to go back to Moto2. Never. “That would never happen with me and I am not glad that didn’t happen because it was never going to happen. “It was only some superstar media who know more than anybody, who were making their plans and thought that was going to be more exciting.”

Double MotoGP race winner Danilo Petrucci admits he is happy that Ducati fired him when it did, as it allowed him to secure top ride with KTM at Tech3 for 2021. Petrucci was handed his marching orders from Ducati before the coronavirus-delayed 2020 season got underway, with Pramac’s Jack Miller taking his place for 2021. The Italian soon engaged in discussions with KTM, signing a deal to join the Austrian manufacturer next year with Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 outfit. Tech3 scored two victories in 2020 courtesy of Miguel Oliveira, bringing Tech3’s haul to three alongside Brad Binder’s Czech Grand Prix win. Petrucci managed a victory at the wet French GP, but was affected heavily by the change in rear tyre construction from Michelin. The Italian admits he felt like he “failed my mission” when Ducati informed him he would not remain with the squad in 2021, but reflects on the timing of it in a positive light. “For sure it has been a very, very strange situation, but it has been very strange all the things happening in the world this year,” Petrucci said. “Looking back for sure, that day Gigi [Dall’Igna, Ducati general manager] called me and said I was not anymore in the factory team, was a very, very sad day because I felt like I failed my mission. “But looking back, I have to say thanks to him because his move permitted me to go to another factory that is really, really competitive. “Everybody at the beginning of the season didn’t think KTM was so fast. “But now the results are [strong]. So, I’m happy that Gigi fired me at the beginning of the season.” KTM’s three victories in 2020 lost it the concession benefits it has utilised since 2017, chief amongst which being an immediate ban on private testing with race riders. This means Petrucci won’t be able ride the RC16 ahead of the first official test at Sepang in February, but said he would do some windtunnel work with KTM after the Portuguese GP. “Unfortunately, they lost the concessions, the free testing, so I have to try the bike in February next year,” he said in Portugal. “But I will go in the windtunnel next week and will be very, very important because for example the top speed this year for me has been a problem. “So, working on that side is important. I think I will do motocross so much without covering the brand of the bike!”

Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis says Valentino Rossi will be a “very important part” in the development of the marque’s 2021 MotoGP bike despite his switch to the satellite Petronas team.After 15 seasons together, Rossi’s time at the factory Yamaha squad came to an end at the conclusion of the 2020 campaign, with the nine-time world champion remaining a factory-contracted rider with Petronas next year on current-spec machinery. Though Jarvis admits Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales will lead some of the development at the factory squad, but doesn’t believe Rossi “moving next door” will change his role much from what it has been previously at Yamaha. “He’s done 15 seasons with the Yamaha factory team. That’s quite extraordinary,” Jarvis said of Rossi’s time with Yamaha. “He did it in two stints, first seven years [from 2004-2010] before he took a two-year break [to join Ducati from 2011-2012] and then eight years when he came back [in 2013]. “So, it will be a change, there’s no doubt because moving next door as such will be different. But on the other side, it will not be different because Valentino will get full factory support next year. “He’ll be riding a factory bike with the same spec as the factory riders. It is true that some of the development will be led more by the factory team, but Valentino is a very important part of our data gathering. “Having more riders on the track is important and there’s no question our engineers will be looking at the data of Fabio, Maverick and Valentino to develop and further progress the factory bike. “But also, we get some interesting information as well from having Franky [Morbidelli] out there [on the older bike]. “So, I think that it will be not a huge change, it will not be a deficit in any case ,and it will not change very much how we develop the bike.”

KTM has expressed its interest in supplying Valentino Rossi’s team in MotoGP should VR46 become a fully fledged premier class outfit in its own right. VR46 will feature in MotoGP next year as a backer of the Esponsorama Racing (Avintia) entry which its 2020 Moto2 runner-up, Luca Marini, will ride. Speaking in the weeks ahead of that announcement, Rossi revealed he has had talks with Yamaha about bringing his academy team into the premier class, although not before the new team participation cycle begins in 2022. Such a tie-up would be a logical choice for VR46 given ‘The Doctor’, who is on his way to SRT, will have raced a Yamaha for 15 seasons by the end of 2021. Furthermore, Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal claimed he had been told that he was the Iwata marque’s second preference to VR46, in the months before announcing his switch to KTM. Poncharal asserted that there was no interest from Yamaha in supplying six entries (including its own factory team), but there are apparently no such reservations in Austria. With Gresini Racing having confirmed its ongoing participation in MotoGP beyond 2021, but not necessarily with current partner Aprilia, and the possibility of an SRT split from Yamaha, KTM could have multiple suitors for a new satellite deal. According to its Motorsports Director, Pit Beirer, it will consider all of them, including VR46. “If you don’t do business in this paddock with someone who has broken his word, you’ll be on your own relatively soon,” he told German outlet Speedweek.com, referring to a past Moto3 deal which was called off by Gresini. “We will hold talks with all serious interested parties. “We would be happy to hear from Valentino at any point in time, but preferably not before 2022 or 2023.” The latter element of that comment is a reference to KTM’s own development. A powerhouse in offroad competition, it broke through for its first MotoGP race win at Brno in the early stages of the 2020 season courtesy of Brad Binder, before Miguel Oliveira added two more on a Tech3 entry. KTM debuted in MotoGP in the 2016 season finale, in preparation for its first full season in the premier class, and Beirer would like to see it establish itself as a championship contender before adding another satellite team. “As soon as we can say that KTM has finally reached the top, we will discuss whether we can equip a second MotoGP customer team,” he explained. “If someone is interested, we would of course offer our bikes. “But this is not the moment to discuss something like this. “We took another huge step in MotoGP in 2020 because we won three races. We must first confirm this success next year.” Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will field Binder and Oliveira next year alongside a Tech3 line-up of Iker Lecuona and former Ducati Team rider Danilo Petrucci.

Red Bull KTM have renewed contracts with former Grand Prix winners Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio to form the backbone of the MotoGP™ testing team for 2021 and continue work evolving the promising KTM RC16. 38-year old Kallio has been a key part of the MotoGP development crew for half a decade. The Fin debuted the KTM RC16 at the 2016 Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana and has completed wild-card appearances and substitute racing duties since 2017; notably contesting six rounds with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in 2019 and the final round of the 2020 campaign for Red Bull KTM Tech3. 35-year old Pedrosa joined the KTM team upon his retirement in 2018 and as one of the most decorated MotoGP racers of the modern era. The Spaniard brought 13 years of top-flight experience in the premier class to the KTM MotoGP project. The work of both Kallio and Pedrosa and the testing squad helped KTM to win three Grands Prix with two different riders in 2020 and register eight podium finishes thanks to the advancement and potential of the KTM RC16. “KTM is very keen to keep improving and I’m only too happy to keep working with them and helping their riders onto bigger goals. I want to thank Pit Beirer, Stefan Pierer and Red Bull for all their trust in me,” Dani Pedrosa commented.

At the end of another stunning season, the riders with the most pole positions in each class(MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3) this season were presented with the coveted TISSOT Pole of Poles award at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Awarded by the Official Timekeeper of MotoGP™, TISSOT, the incredible limited edition 2020 prizes were handed to each winner by Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta in a special ceremony on the Saturday evening. In MotoGP, the winner was Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo as the Frenchman took four pole positions in 2020 and was the man with both the most pole positions and best qualifying record overall in the premier class. Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took the award in Moto2, with the Brit having taken three pole positions in 2020. It wasn’t as easy as that after an incredibly tight year in the intermediate class, however, and the ultimate winner was decided on front row starts as well – since Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) also took an impressive three Moto2 pole positions this season. Moto3 saw Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) pick up the award after raking in an incredible total of six pole positions in 2020. That’s the most of any of the three Pole of Pole winners and saw him start from the front for more than a third of the races this year.

Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team (SRT) will be taking part in two winter season tests in February and March before facing the 2021 MotoGP World Championship in Losail International Circuit, Doha, Qatar from March 26 to 28 2021. Team principal, Datuk Razlan Razali said the two winter season tests are at Sepang International Circuit from Feb 19 to 21 and Losail International Circuit from March 10 to 12. In this regard, Petronas Sprinta Racing Moto2 and Moto3 riders under the team would have a pre-season practice at Jerez Circuit in Spain from March 16-18. “Considering that most of our racers have wide experience, we do not need to monitor the off- season performance of riders such as Darryn Binder and John McPhee, what’s more with Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi,” he told Bernama recently. In this regard, Razlan announced Petronas Sprinta Racing Moto2 rider, Jake Dixon of United Kingdom is still undergoing treatment and is expected to back in action in the opening round in Qatar. He said Dixon has began fitness activities such as running and cycling while still going through physiotherapy for his right wrist. “We are confident he would be able to ride motorcycle as normal and would be ready for his maiden appearance in Qatar,” added Razlan. Dixon fractured his right wrist during the second free practice at the Valencia Grand Prix early last month before deciding to go for a surgery in England. Seven-time MotoGP world champion, Valentino Rossi of Italy, would be partnering compatriot, Franco Morbideli in MotoGP class for the team. Petronas Sprinta Racing is also retaining Spanish rider, Xavi Vierge and Dixon for Moto2, but dropped national Moto3 racer, Khairul Idham Pawi who would be replaced by South African rider, Darryn Binder who would joining McPhee in Moto3.

Gresini Racing has announced it will cease to operate Aprilia’s factory MotoGP entry from 2022 onwards, and will instead race in the premier class as an independent. The news is consistent with long-standing rumours that Aprilia was looking to take its MotoGP operation more in house. Aprilia has been a quasi-independent entry due to its Gresini partnership since it returned to the grid in 2015. “We’re happy to announce this agreement with IRTA [MotoGP’s teams’ association], which will see us in MotoGP for five years starting from 2022,” team manager Fausto Gresini said. “We will not be representing Aprilia as a factory team anymore, so we will continue as an Independent Team, doing so with as much will and commitment. “There’s a lot of work to do and many things to define and communicate. Obviously we’re already working on this huge project, and we will reveal the details little by little. Stay tuned!” Prior to its Aprilia link-up, Gresini had served as a Honda satellite team and was a genuine frontrunner at the start of the century. It is not currently clear whether Gresini would look to remain with Aprilia and becomes its satellite team or join forces with another manufacturer. MotoGP is believed to be targeting a 24-bike grid for 2022, which would be a two-entry increase compared to next year, and is thought to want a system in which each of its six manufacturers is supported by a single satellite operation. Currently, Honda, KTM and Yamaha have one satellite team each, but Ducati has Avintia/Esponsorama in addition to Pramac, while Suzuki and Aprilia are limited to factory bikes only. Gresini is also represented in Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE (where it won the inaugural title in 2019) in addition to the premier class. Its 2021 Moto2 line-up comprises Italian duo Nicolo Bulega and Fabio Di Giannantonio, and the latter has been rumoured to have a MotoGP 2022 clause in what is a two-year deal with Gresini.

The first-ever VR46 team livery on a MotoGP bike, which Valentino Rossi protégé Luca Marini will race with in 2021 aboard the Esponsorama Racing Ducati, has been revealed. Ducati confirmed last month it had secured the signatures of 2020 Moto2 world champion Enea Bastianini and Moto2 runner-up Marini to join the Esponsorama squad (formally Avintia). As part of Marini’s deal, close ties have been forged between the VR46 team – for whom Marini races in Moto2 – and Esponsorama Racing, with the Sky-backed VR46 livery appearing on the Italian’s bike. VR46 Moto2 team boss Pablo Nieto will also have a senior role within the Esponsorama team, while some of Marini’s crew from Moto2 will step up with him. Revealed on Italy’s version of the talent show X-Factor on Thursday evening, the liveries for Marini’s MotoGP bike as well as the squad’s Moto2 effort – which remain almost identical to what was raced in Moto2 and Moto3 in 2020 – were unveiled. The Esponsorama squad is unlikely to remain in MotoGP beyond the 2021 season, with rumours emerging in the latter stages of the current campaign that VR46 could take over the grid slots as early as next year. Team owner Raul Romero put those rumours on ice, but Esponsorama’s link-up with VR46 points towards MotoGP legend Rossi’s team stepping up properly in 2022 in the slots vacated by Esponsorama. MotoGP’s current agreement with the independent teams comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2021 campaign, making a move for Rossi’s team full-time into the premier class much easier as it wouldn’t have to buy out a team’s slot. Marini’s step up to the premier class means Rossi will be racing with three of his Academy riders alongside Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and his Petronas SRT team-mate Franco Morbidelli. With VR46’s first steps into the premier class, the team’s Moto3 outfit has been shelved for 2021, with Celestino Vietti stepping up to Moto2 alongside Marco Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi was offered a deal to join Aprilia in MotoGP for 2021, but VR46 didn’t green light the move and he will remain with the squad in the intermediate category.

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has admitted his attempts to return to action at Jerez just days after surgery on a broken right arm at the start of the season was “a mistake”. Marquez crashed heavily in the closing stages of the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, breaking the humerus bone in his right arm which required an operation to have a plate fitted. The Honda rider tried to return for the following week’s Andalusian GP at the same track, having been cleared to do so by doctors. But he had to abort his comeback after encountering problems in his right arm after qualifying, with the stresses of that weekend ultimately weakening the plate to where it broke as he attempted to open a door at his home. Having had a second operation to fix this, Marquez wouldn’t race again in 2020, with a slower-than-expected recovery forcing him to have a third operation on Thursday in Madrid. The bone graft operation took eight hours, and though a recovery time is unknown at this stage, Marquez faces a six-month period of rehabilitation – casting his participation in the start of the 2021 season into doubt. Speaking to Spanish broadcaster DAZN, Marquez commented on his Jerez return attempt, stating: “This year has taught me many things. “The first, that the attempt to return after the injury was hasty. My plate broke at home, opening a sliding door that I have to go out to the garden. But the plate did not break there, it did so as a result of all the stress that was created in Jerez. “Trying to return to Jerez was a mistake. I’ve learned that the riders have a virtue and a defect, which is that the riders do not see fear, so they [doctors] have to make us see it. “After the first operation, the first question of every rider is: when can I get back on the bike? And it is the doctor who has to know how to stop you, he is the one who has to be realistic. I went to Jerez with the peace of mind that the plate held because they told me so. “I am brave but not unconscious. If they tell me that the plate can break, I would not have gotten on a 300km/h motorcycle.”

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has undergone a third operation on his right arm in Madrid and likely faces a six-month recovery period. The Honda rider broke his right arm in a heavy crash during the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on 19 July. Marquez had an operation immediately afterwards to have metalwork inserted to fix the bone and attempted a comeback just days later at Jerez for the Andalusian GP. But he had to abort this, with the energy exerted on his arm ultimately leading to the metal plate breaking and requiring a second operation. With recovery from this being slower than expected, Marquez never raced again in 2020, with Honda test rider Stefan Bradl deputising in his absence. Reports in the Spanish press last month suggested Marquez would need a third operation owing to the healing process taking longer than hoped, with Marquez consulting numerous surgeons in recent weeks to determine the best course of action. Marquez went to Madrid on Thursday for further consultation, with Spain’s Antena 3 first reporting the Spaniard had an 11-hour operation on his arm. Motorsport.com can confirm the surgery did take place, with Honda’s own statement issued late on Thursday night noting the “uneventful” operation took eight hours. The surgery involved bone being taken from his hip, which is high in red blood cells, and grafted onto the humerus area on his right arm where a new plate was also inserted. Marquez’s recovery is expected to take up to six months, which will rule him out of the start of the 2021 season – due to begin on 28 March with the Qatar Grand Prix. Honda has yet to comment on recovery time. The full statement from Honda read: “Marc Marquez has undergone a new operation on his right arm as a result of the slow healing of the humerus bone, which has not improved with specific shock wave treatment. “Today the rider has undergone surgery at the Hospital Ruber Internacional, in Madrid, for a pseudarthrosis of the right humerus. “The surgery, carried out by a team made up of doctors Samuel Antuna, Ignacio Roger de Ona, Juan de Miguel, Aitor Ibarzabal and Andrea Garcia Villanueva, consisted of the removal of the previous plate and the placement of a new plate with the addition of an iliac crest bone graft with a corticoperiosteal free flap. “The surgical procedure lasted for eight hours and was uneventful.” Should Marquez be unable to race for part of 2021, this leaves the door open for Andrea Dovizioso to make a surprise return to MotoGP action. Dovizioso opted to take a sabbatical after quitting Ducati at the end of the 2020 season, with no test rider roles offered to him for 2021 which gave him a clear path back onto the MotoGP grid for 2022. Free of any ties to teams in MotoGP, Honda could reasonably call on Dovizioso to fill in for Marquez should the Spaniard have to miss more races. Dovizioso made his MotoGP debut in 2008 on the JiR Honda, before moving to the factory squad, with whom he raced from 2009 to the end of 2011 – scoring his first MotoGP victory with the marque at Donington in 2009.

Monster Energy will have ‘an impactful presence’ on the 2021 Suzuki GSX-RRs of new world champion Joan Mir and team-mate Alex Rins. A ‘multi-year agreement’ has been reached which will see the energy drink company, already title sponsor of the Factory Yamaha team, also become an ‘official sponsor’ of Team Suzuki Ecstar. “We started negotiating before the beginning of the year and we are very proud to have Monster Energy branding on our bike for the years to come,” said team manager Davide Brivio. “Monster was already a partner of our two riders so we look forward to working with them much more closely, and we’ll try to give our best contribution to their marketing activities. I believe both brands will benefit a lot from this partnership.” Rodney Sacks, chairman and CEO of Monster Energy Company, said: “Having spent the last two years supporting both Alex and Joan as they raced for the team with great success, it is a very natural progression to come on board as an official partner. “2020 has been an exceptional year for everyone connected with the team and we’re looking forward to continuing the astonishing journey that Suzuki and their riders have already taken fans on in MotoGP. “The 2021 MotoGP season can’t come soon enough for any of us.” Mir won this year’s world championship, the first for Suzuki since 2000, by 13 points over Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) with Rins in third place. Monster has backed two MotoGP teams before (albeit of the same brand), being title sponsor of Tech 3 Yamaha and also official sponsor of the factory Yamaha team. When Tech3 then switched to KTM (and Red Bull) in 2019, Monster took over from Movistar as title sponsor of the official M1 team. While the Monster-Yamaha deal is, like the new Suzuki agreement, of undisclosed length, the team is still titled as ‘Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’ on the provisional 2021 entry list.

Factory Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales calls 2020 ‘worst season of my career’, makes clear Yamaha needs a big step with its Factory-spec M1 MotoGP machine over the winter; ‘Right now, our potential is to be top ten’. Sixth place in this year’s MotoGP World Championship means the lowest Maverick Vinales has been ranked since his rookie 2015 season, at Suzuki. But the Spaniard himself rates it as the ‘worst season of his career’, with hopes of inheriting Marc Marquez’s crown disappearing with just one win and three podiums from the 14 rounds. Vinales did salvage the honour of being the top Factory-spec M1 rider but that was of little consolation, especially with Franco Morbidelli sweeping to second overall behind Suzuki’s world champion Joan Mir on the ‘lower’ A-spec machine. “At least I won this little championship,” Vinales said of fending-off future team-mate Fabio Quartararo by five points. “It’s something positive. But obviously, it has been a totally disastrous season. The worst season of my career. It’s hard to take that. “But anyway, now it’s time to go home, stay calm, and it’s up to others to worry, I will work on myself.” The hero-or-zero form of the grip-sensitive Factory M1 saw Vinales’ race results swing between 1st and 14th place finishes. Vinales had been just one point from the title lead after victory in Misano but didn’t even stand on the podium in the seven races that followed, managing just 49 out of a possible 175 points, not helped by a pit-lane start for an extra engine at Valencia. Valve problems from the Jerez season-opener forced all of the Yamaha riders to spend much of the season on just 2-3 engines, hurting their top speed. Cornering advantages, when grip was available, helped patch the gap in qualifying, but overtaking was often a gruelling task and it was no coincidence that many of Yamaha’s seven wins were lights-to-flag affairs. “If we started first or second, for sure it’s a totally different race,” Vinales said of his eleventh-place finish at the Portimao finale, just ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi, with Quartararo in 14th. “Because when I was alone, I was able to do the rhythm that Jack and Frankie were riding [second and third]. “The problem is that when you get involved in the middle [of the pack], you are done. They overtake you on the straight, you have to brake very hard, the front starts to give up, so it’s everything in trouble. “As we always say, we have to start first and push. If you don’t do that, you are in trouble, you go backwards. “Honestly, I just want to say that for sure it has been four or five races which have been a complete disaster for us. So we will see [for next year]. Right now, our potential is to be top ten. So it changes the movie quite a lot.” Vinales had gone into the final round holding fourth in the world championship and as one of six riders in with a chance of claiming second place.