Vinales not angry after Rossi incident

Maverick Vinales has said that he is not angry with Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, after the pair came close to contact in qualifying.

Rossi was on the racing line on a slow lap when Maverick came up behind him early in QP2. The Spaniard was hot on the heels of Honda’s Marc Marquez’s time, but had to slow down to avoid hitting Rossi, Vinales gesticulating angrily towards the Italian.

However, the championship leader admitted immediately after qualifying that the incident was nothing more than a misunderstandings, his reaction brought about in the heat of the moment.

“There were many riders on track,” he said.

“I’m not angry at what happened today. When you’re riding a good lap it’’s normal, riders are like this.

“There are no bad feelings between me and Valentino. This is a normal thing that can happen, I’m not complaining. It can happen to me as well, maybe one day I’m in the middle.”

Vinales will line up second on the grid tomorrow, as the Spaniard aims to make it three wins from three in the 2017 MotoGP season.

The Spaniard has proven more than a match for Marquez this weekend, who up until this year has come under no threat at the Circuit of the Americas. Despite narrowly missing pole by just over a tenth of a second, Vinales is confident of being able to challenge in Sunday’s 21-lap race.

“We still have tomorrow to improve. We will be working hard this night to find a new set-up to try and stop the bike better, but I think we did a great job and we can be there for sure. Pushing 100% from lap one until the last lap I think will be the best strategy.”