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Maverick Vinales says he keeps wondering what he could do on a Honda or a Ducati amid Yamaha’s ongoing troublesome MotoGP run.
An upturn in form in Thailand, where Vinales scored his first podium since July, turned out to be a one-off as Yamaha struggled for form again at Motegi last weekend.
After finishing seventh in Japan, Vinales is only seven points ahead of Honda satellite rider Cal Crutchlow in the riders’ standings.
Vinales admitted the thought of how he would perform at either of MotoGPs current leading manufacturers has often crossed his mind this year.
“Every day I think about it, what I would do with those bikes, what results I would achieve,” said Vinales, who renewed his contract with Yamaha before the start of the 2018 season.
“But it doesn’t help me in the situation I’m in, I have a two-year contract. Every day [I think about it], but what’s the point?
“Now I’m here and I have to work with this – there are no excuses, I have to work and create a very good bike for next year from the first time I ride in the [post-season] Valencia test.
“The bike worked before and it has to work again.”
Vinales said he demanded an explanation from Yamaha for its poor performance at Motegi in a technical meeting after last weekend’s Japanese GP, but was unconvinced by the team’s answers.
“It wasn’t a longer meeting than usual, but I’d like to know why I’m slow,” said Vinales.
“I wanted them to explain it to me and until they did, I didn’t get out of my chair.
“The explanations didn’t convince me, they wanted to leave, but I didn’t want to leave without an explanation.
“I don’t know if Yamaha is working or not, if I knew I would have said it already because I’m not hiding. The only thing I want to know is why I couldn’t go fast in Japan.”
Vinales added he will not change his riding style, saying it was the team’s responsibility instead to provide a suitable bike.
“I’m not going to force my riding style, last year I did it and I was worse,” he said.
“Let them make a bike for me and they can be ahead winning races.”