Maverick Vinales believes the tough times may have passed for Monster Energy Yamaha after his victory at Misano on Sunday.

Vinales claimed his first MotoGP win of the season – and became the sixth different race winner of 2020 – in the second of back-to-back races at the Misano circuit.

It came in somewhat fortuitous fashion, with Vinales capitalising on Francesco Bagnaia's bad luck after the race leader crashed out with seven laps remaining.

The Yamaha rider had finished sixth after initially claiming pole last time out, though, and suggested Sunday's triumph may finally mark a turn in fortunes.

"I just want to say thank you to all the people supporting me from home. There have been tough times for me, the team, but it seems now they have passed," he told MotoGP's official website.

"An amazing job this weekend, we prepared really good. I was pushing a lot, trying to save a bit of tyre for the last 10 laps, and then I started to really push at the end of the race.

"I thought I was catching a little bit but after Francesco's mistake I just tried to focus on putting the wheels on the track, not crashing and getting the points.

"So fantastic. I'm very happy, my mentality is completely the same, we just found a little bit more. 

"I believe a lot in myself. I know what I'm able to do. We don't need to give up. For sure we've had difficult times, we've made many mistakes. I felt really strong today."

Suzuki Ecstar's Joan Mir climbed from 11th to finish second, ahead of Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha).

However, Quartararo was handed a three-second post-race penalty, meaning Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) clinched the final place on the podium.

"I wanted to enjoy the race. By the end I expected a little bit of a drop in the tyre but it came a little bit earlier," Espargaro told MotoGP's official website.

"I just wanted to keep Maverick near. I just tried to defend my position, and finally it came off, with the penalty to Fabio.

"I never surrender because these kind of things happen and today we were lucky."

Vinales' victory moves him up to joint-second – alongside Quartararo – in the drivers' standings, a point behind Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso.