Montmeló (Spain) (AFP) - Maverick Vinales’s decision to carry out a series of extravagant wheelies at the end of qualifying for the Catalunya Grand Prix backfired when he was handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

Yamaha rider Vinales had finished third in qualifying behind pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo and world champion Marc Marquez but was penalised for impeding the French rider.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to say,” said Vinales after being relegated to sixth place on the grid.

“I thought I saw the chequered flag and I began to salute the crowd by doing ‘wheelies’. I didn’t see Fabio until too late, I didn’t expect him.”

Despite being unintentional and offering his apologies, the race stewards felt that Vinales was riding “irresponsibly, at slow speed on the track and impeding another rider”.