A set-up 'gamble' paid off 'extremely well' for Mဣaverick Vinales, who carved his way from 21st to eighth in Sunday's Emilia Romagna MotoGP.

Returning to the scene of a 13th place with Aprilia the previous month, Vinales looked ಌto be facing a big challe♈nge just to reach the points after qualifying 19th, then losing further places on the opening laps.

Mistakes by othe🌄r riders helped carry Vinales to 14th by the halfway stage, but he made most of the remaining places up on his own, showing impressive speed whenever he got a clear t♌rack.

That included setting what would be the fourth fastest lap of the race, on lap 20 of 27, when the Spaniard♋ was slower than only race leaders Frances♌co Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

Vinales went on to catch ꦉand cross the line just a few tenths behind team-mate Aleix Espargaro, who had been as high as fifth in the middle stages.

"I'm happy because before the race we made a substantial change to the bike’s balance. It was a gamble, but our g𓆉oal is to try to get to kno🐻w this bike better and better," said Vinales, taking part in only his third race on the RS-GP after the mid-season split from Yamaha.

"It worked extremely well. I had a good pace from the first laps and the only thing that kept me f🤪rom battling for an even better result was the fact that I had to make up positions from behind.

"I am extre🍸mely confident after w♍hat we demonstrated today. Step by step, the rider-team-bike package is coming together and that is fundamental."

Espargaro's race went in the opposite direction, an early rise from eleventh on the grid being followed 🍰by a lack of grip and slide down the order.

Like Vinales, Espargaro picked the medium front and soft rear tyre combination, after a free practice and qualifying c🌞omplicated by rain.

"I'm happy enough with the points we earned today, especially because my pace wasn’t exactly exceptional. Unfortunately, I didn’t f☂eel good grip at the rear tyre and I struggledꦍ throughout the race," Espargaro said.

"In light of the complications this weekend, leaving Misano with a solid performance is important. We aren’t far from the top seven in the overall standings a🐠nd we’ll give it our all down to the last race."

Wild-card Lorenzo Savadori was unable to start the race after breaking his collarbone in practice. The Italian underwent surgery on Saturday evening and, with his Portimao ꧅wild-card plans now cancelled, is aiming to return at the Jerez test in mid-Novembe♏r.