Vinales turns focus to beating Dovizioso to runner-up spot

Having dropped 41 points behind championship leader Marc Marquez in Motegi, Vinales was mathematically eliminated from contention in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix as he finished third behind Marquez and his Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi.

Nonetheless, It marked the first time since Silverstone in August has Vinales has stood on the podium, while the 22-year-old led his first laps in Australia since June’s Mugello’s race.

“Our plan was to push with five laps to go,” said Vinales of his race. “I think I was able to overtake good the other riders, I had a strong braking point at Turn 4, this was my strongest point.

“But I had some contact with Andrea [Iannone], I went to the back of the group. Then I had some laps to recover, overtake Jack [Miller], Cal [Crutchlow].

“Anyway, I’m happy to be on the podium. The last races have been tough, [this has been the] first race in the second part of the season I felt strong.

“Now winning the championship is impossible, but we have to try and finish second. Coming on strong now at the end is going to be important for 2018.”

Wet-weather improvement

Vinales said another positive he could draw from the Phillip Island weekend was a much-improved wet-weather performance.

The Spaniard had criticised Yamaha for failing to get on top of struggles in the rain at Motegi, where a disappointing run to ninth place dealt a major blow to his already-fading title ambitions.

But, during a wet Sunday warm-up, Vinales was second only to Marquez, and believes his team can now be competitive again in case bad weather hits this weekend at Sepang.

“Honestly I did the same as Saturday morning [in FP3, also wet] and in Japan,” he said. “The bike was working better [in warm-up], I felt much better with the tyres and I could push a little bit more.

“I’m happy we found the way, because Malaysia has a lot of possibilities of rain.”