What's a MotoGP weekend like for Maverick Viñales? - Red Bull

It's not just a case of turn up and ride for a MotoGP star at a regular Grand Prix.

There's plenty to do during a normal race weekend, from all the on-track action right through to team and media debriefs, autograph signing sessions, and more.

RedBull.com shadowed Maverick Viñales for a full weekend and found out what the MotoGP rookie gets up to…

A nod to famous Suzuki star Kevin Schwantz© Toni Börner/RedBull.com Wednesday: Arrive and settle in

I always come to the track on Wednesday , just to be here and to relax. I don't really do anything, but I will go for a run or cycle a lap of the circuit. In the evening I'll have dinner with the team and we'll chat.

Thursday: The preparations begin

On Thursday we start to get everything ready. The leathers are prepared, then meetings with the team when we make the plan for the weekend.

The media pre-event

It is always really nice [to be involved], there are a few riders and it's always nice to have a good time, you have fun there and can relax. It doesn't happen often, maybe five to six times a year you get asked to do it and it is really nice. The last event we did was great fun [at the German GP].

Friday: Getting out on track

Friday morning we always start with the electronic set-up, because you come to a track and do not have so much data. As soon as we have that on a good trajectory, we start with other things like the springs or geometry. So sometimes we miss a little bit of the practice to work for the race because we need to start with the electronics. But with every race we are getting faster in setting up the electronics and can move onto the overall set-up faster.

If I try another bike and don't feel safe, then I can't go fast. I need to feel my bike.

Maybe after Friday you think you have found something on the geometry or suspension, but normally you change nothing because the tracks are very similar. Sachsenring was quite similar to Brno, Indianapolis was quite close to Misano, where we were testing. So finally it is not a big difference in the set-up. Some riders like to change that a lot, I don't change a lot there. I have a good feeling with my bike. If I try another bike and don't feel safe, then I can't go fast. I need to feel my bike.

The team debrief

Sometimes I need to spend like half an hour talking about what direction we need to follow, what was the feeling in the last session, what's the feeling from everybody inside the team.

What I like about here [at Suzuki] is that you can say if you don't like one thing and they can manage to change or to find a solution, so this is very nice.

Saturday: Putting it all together in qualifying

You can see in the team that they all have a big motivation and they are all very hungry to have another result like the one in Catalunya [second on the grid]. So we are working really hard. Honestly in Catalunya the tyres helped us a lot, they were quite soft and it was easy to get the lap time. But anyway, we are quite competitive and consistent. We just need to wait for the power and try to develop the bike as fast as possible.

I think for this year it will be difficult to get a really good result, but if we can have a good start and a good first lap, then we are able to be in the top six, seven, which is really nice for MotoGP.

Why Maverick Viñales will set MotoGP alight

A quiet moment before things get hectic© Toni Börner/RedBull.com Sunday: The target for the race

Win [laughs]! Of course a win is the best result, but for us the top ten is like a victory. In the first part of the season we were saying that a point here or there would be great, but now we think that all around P6 is a good result. So the objective changed a lot. I don't know how to explain that.

Suzuki is doing a good job. They are doing everything they can do for this bike and to develop it quite fast.

I am also very happy with my team, they are all working so hard and are hungry to work and motivated to get good results.

After the racing's done

If I come home on the Sunday evening, I always relax on Monday and spend time with my family, my grandfather. But on Tuesday the training starts again with cycling and motocross, or I go to the gym. Normally we do like three days of motocross and then three of four days of cycling and then two days in the gym.

Because in motocross you destroy your body, when you're finished the next day you have pain everywhere. I like how I train, and it works because I can do the first lap like the last lap of the race.