Termas de Río Hondo (Argentina), 6th April 2018 – The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team completed the first free practice session of the Gran Premio de la República Argentina this morning.
Valentino Rossi found a good pace from the beginning of FP1. He was quick to place himself in the upper regions of the timesheets. He ultimately finished in 7th place, having set a 1‘40.825s fastest lap, 0.522s from first.
Maverick Viñales needed a bit more time to adjust his YZR-M1 to the Termas de Río Hondo Circuit, but made strides in terms of pace towards the end of the morning session. Despite traffic on track spoiling his final lap, he took 13th place with a best time of 1‘41.224s, 0.921s from the front.
VALENTINO ROSSI
7th position – Best lap time: 1’40.825 (+0.522) – Laps: 19I‘m quite happy about the first free practice in Argentina. The bike is OK but, for sure, we have to work a lot on the tyres, the electronics and the balance of the bike, thinking ahead to the qualifying and the pace for the race. Anyway, the first impression is positive. Now we have to analyse the data to do another step during the second free practice. We will do our best!
MAVERICK VIÑALES
13th position – Best lap time: 1’41.224 (+0.921) – Laps: 20
The feelings are good, I felt quite good on the bike. I think we have a lot of potential at this track. We want to work hard, because I like this track. Like I said, I felt good on the bike. Now we look forward to FP2, to make good lap times, and we will try to be inside the top-10.
