Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales fought to ninth position in sunday’s Brno MotoGP in the Czech Republic under difficult and changeable conditions as team-mate Aleix Espargaró was forced out after a strong showing earlier in the 22-lap race.

The 400th MotoGP race started wet and both GSX-RR riders opted for soft Michelin tyres, with a potential opportunity to pull-in to change machines during the race. But both stayed out – as did most of the riders – as the track dried in the closing laps.

In such tricky conditions, the choice of the tyres affected Viñales’ final performance as the track didn’t dry enough for a flag-to-flag, but also was too demanding for soft wet tyres, resulting in that riders who chose hard wet tyres had an advantage towards the end of the race.

Different issues affected Espargaró’s performance: After a very positive jump and a vigorous competitiveness for almost two-thirds distance, an issue with the engine prevented him collecting a deserved result. His performance has been more and more positive throughout the weekend, with a further step in the morning in the warm-up session where he found the final configuration for a set-up that allowed him to feel much-more confident.

Today the Team will stay in Brno for a day of testing with Viñales, as Espargaró will take available time to recover from his hand injuries, incurred last weekend in Austria.