Viñales close to perfection for Malaysian MotoGP masterpiece

“Amazing,” he said “because in Phillip Island I felt I had the victory in my hands but I made a mistake and I crashed. Here all weekend I have been very consistent with used tyres, new tyres, time attack, so I knew if I could get into first place I had a chance to push, push and push to try to open the gap. I am very happy and pleased so I have to say congratulations to the team because four or five races ago we are improving and I am getting better and I am getting stronger, especially with the rhythm in the first laps. I am very happy so I will enjoy this moment.”

“When you work on the factory bike you need to try many things to develop it during the season, so it is always very complicated to keep one bike the same and try to improve yourself,” he revealed. “So since halfway through the season I kept the same bike and tried to improve myself. Even if there were new ítems [to try] I kept the same bike and tried to be at the best level. That’s what we did, understanding the bike better.”

Behind the disappearing #12 teammate Valentino Rossi formed part of a warring trio for the last podium spot. The darling of the mostly-luminous #46 yellow crowd had his hands full with the top speed of Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati and the probing blue Suzuki of Alex Rins. Despite repeated attempts to relegate his countryman Rossi (who clocked the fastest race lap) could not break into the top three and had to settle for fourth. He kept Rins at bay, and chasing air after the Spaniard was Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo; the Petronas Yamaha pair creating headlines with front row grid spots, pole positions and new lap records on Saturday but unable to convert the pace and potential to prizes when it counted.

After three weeks of barrelling across Asia and Australia MotoGP catches it breath before the traditional season-closer at Valencia, Spain in mid-November.