A strong showing on track was delivered by Maverick Vinales during Friday practice at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider successfully secured a top-ten finish in the Practice session, which directly granted him a coveted spot in Q2 for the upcoming MotoGP qualifying battle.
Despite displaying promising speed on the motorcycle, ongoing physical discomfort in his shoulder remains a critical limiting factor. Vinales openly admitted that he might consider sacrificing Saturday's Sprint race to preserve his physical condition for the grueling Grand Prix on Sunday.
"I'll try to hold out all weekend, but if in the Sprint race I see that the shoulder starts to hurt more, then I'll save myself for the main race," said Vinales after Practice in Malaysia, as reported by Motorsport.com.
Elaborating further, the Spanish rider emphasized the importance of managing the lingering pain to extract maximum performance from the machine. "So, there's no doubt that I have to get rid of the pain somehow, because as soon as I get it, I'll be able to go fast. It still hurts a little when accelerating, but much less than in Australia."
The current KTM prototype requires an aggressive riding style pushed strictly to the absolute limit. Vinales pointed out that the bike simply does not perform unless it is relentlessly driven at maximum capacity throughout every lap.
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