Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales was back in action for the first two free practice sessions ahead of Sunday's Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón on Friday, but it wasn‘t all smooth sailing. A search for a good set-up at the wet MotorLand Aragón track was the main challenge for the Spanish rider, who secured 17th place overall in the combined times.
Viñales was eager to make strides in his championship quest at the start of this weekend, but sudden rain at the beginning of FP1 spoiled his plans.
After a quick dry-to-wet set-up change, the Spaniard was cautious not to take unnecessary risks, as the weather forecast for the remainder of the weekend is 'dry'. He set a fastest lap of 2'04.098s to finish the 45-minute session in 20th place, 2.855s from the front.
As the rain persisted in the afternoon, the local hero was determined to step up his pace by trying a new wet weather setting, but wheelspin kept him from threatening the top of the charts.
He continued to work on the adjustment of the set-up throughout the session. His last run moved him up to 17th place in the final minute, when he dropped a 2'01.632s, securing 17th place, both in the FP2 and the combined results, with a 1.774s gap to first.
“It was very complicated. We were trying a new set-up for the wet, but unfortunately we didn‘t find a way to improve,” he explained after the session. “We‘re having so much spin, the bike is not riding well, so we have many problems to set a good lap time.”
“Luckily, it will be dry and we know we will have a strong package for those conditions. We are going to try to improve on the wet. We are trying and trying, but sometimes it gets difficult. We didn‘t improve compared to Misano, we took some steps back whilst trying to improve, but we‘re going to keep trying to do our best.”
