Vinales insists Qatar MotoGP victory not a must

Yamaha's Maverick Vinales says the upcoming MotoGP 2017 season opener in Qatar is not a must-win race for him, despite his imperious pre-season form.

Vinales was quickest in each of the four off-season tests since joining Yamaha from Suzuki, the Spaniard setting the pace in Valencia, Sepang, Phillip Island and, most recently, Qatar.

However, Vinales suggests that his Yamaha race debut, which is to take place in Qatar on March 26, can be a positive one even if he doesn't win - although he made it clear he will certainly target first place.

"I didn't put that pressure not even on me and not even on the team," Vinales said when asked whether he'd be gunning for victory at all costs at Losail.

"I think we must work for the win, but we 'don't must' win, it's just the first race, we have to get experience.

"For sure, our goal is trying to win because after the test we are seeing that we have an incredible pace and we want to try to continue on that level."

Vinales went into the Qatar test confident of his ability to put together a strong lap, but seeking improvements to his long runs.

After the test, the Spaniard said progress was made with regards to race pace: "Honestly we've been working really good - I know with one lap I can be really fast ,but I was having some doubts on the race pace.