Maverick Viñales knows what his goals are for these two days of testing in Qatar, with a big decision to be made about the aerodynamic package he will have and a very specific focus on starts.
Before the start of these last days of testing before the start of the championship, the rider talked about what he will be working on above all:
– For me, of course, the team has some focuses and I have others, obviously we both want to be as prepared as possible. Aerodynamics are very important and we have to make the decision to have a package because we have to homologate, so this is the biggest thing we have to do. As for the rest, I think the bike is working very well and I just need to work a little on the settings, on the engine and electronics, because it seems very different from last year, but that’s just a mapping, so it’s easy, something we can do during the weekend. For me, starts are very important. We haven’t improved, so that’s my goal, the biggest one for this Qatar test, to finish with a good feeling in the starts.
Regarding the work that needs to be done regarding the aerodynamic package, Viñales immediately said: ‘Two days, it’s about seeing what you like or don’t like. One thing I like about Qatar is that it will be very windy, it will put things more in crisis, everything, and that’s very good.’
If all the 2024 bikes will end up with the same aerodynamic packages, the Spanish rider said: ‘I don’t think so, because it depends a lot on how you ride the bike. Probably me and Miguel [Oliveira] will be very similar, Aleix [Espargaró] will be different, but we’ll see. Honestly, I don’t know, we are free to choose, so I don’t know.’
Highlighting the starts again, #12 was clear: ‘We need to improve. We started well, but we know how important it is to reach the first corner in first or second, so for me, that’s the priority and, after that, it’s up to me. It’s on the bike, we need to improve the bike. We need to take a step forward.’
