Maverick Viรฑales prepared for an intense weekend at the Twin Ring Motegi track today where he searched for grip in the rainy first free practice sessions and took 11th place overall in the combined timesheets, ahead of Sunday's Motul Grand Prix of Japan.
The weather was the biggest challenge for Viรฑales in the morning.
He found himself starting Yamaha's home GP weekend in the pouring rain, and he had to up his pace gradually, careful not to cross the limit.
Despite the treacherous conditions, which made it harder to get heat into the tyres and caused impaired vision due to the spray, he started working on his YZR-M1โs setting.
The Spaniard took ninth in FP1 with a 1โ56.917s best lap, 1.499s from the front.
The Yamaha Factory rider looked more confident during the second 45-minute session.
Working on corner entry and minimising rear spin, he found a better pace, posting multiple 1โ57s laps to ultimately secure 11th place with a fastest lap of 1โ56.376s.
He was again 1.499s from the leader and ended up in 11th position in the combined results.
โItโs been challenging throughout the year to be strong in the wet,โ he said. โWe didnโt find a good set-up so far. The gap to the front is quite big, so we have to try to better the setting of the bike to improve the rear grip. Itโs a pity, because the conditions werenโt really tricky and the grip level of the track was good. We still have tomorrowโs sessions to find a solution.โ
