Can Vinales achieve dream of MotoGP wins for three manufacturers?

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo didn't manage it, but could 2022 see Maverick Vinales join a very exclusive list of riders to win premier-class races for three different manufacturers?

The three-peat feat has been achieved by just four riders since 1949; Mike Hailwood, Randy Mamola, Eddie Lawson and, most recently, Loris Capirossi, who won for Yamaha in 1996, Honda in 2000 (both during the 500cc era) and then a first Ducati 'MotoGP' win in 2003.

Rossi, then a 79-time race winner for Honda and Yamaha, looked set to join that list when he moved to Ducati for 2010-2011, but came away winless.

The Italian's Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo later added three Ducati victories to the 44 he had achieved on an M1, but also fell short of the 'triple' when he joined Repsol Honda in 2019.

On paper Vinales, who took a MotoGP victory with Suzuki in 2016 followed by eight more wins for Yamaha from 2017-2021, has a tougher task.

Aprilia, the team Vinales switched to midway through last season, is yet to win a premier-class race, while the current RS-GP has just one podium to its credit.

That came in the hands of team-mate Aleix Espargaro at Silverstone last season, with Vinales a best of eighth place in his five end-of-year appearances after the shock split from Yamaha.

But the new Aprilia has impressed during pre-season testing, featuring at the top of the timesheets and finishing in the top four during each of the five days at Sepang and Mandalika.

"It would be a dream to win with three manufacturers, I think I’d be the only one to do it [in the 'MotoGP' era]," Vinales said. "To bring Aprilia on top is one of my objectives. But we have to be realistic. Still we need a few tenths to be able to fight for victory.

"It’s a long way to find a good set up, especially for me. The bike was set-up for a different riding style. Still we are struggling in some areas, especially with the grip."

Nonetheless, "In Sepang we were inside the top three in rhythm, and here [in Mandalika] I think too. This is very positive. They are two different tracks and I can be fast.

"We also arrived here without any data. For me this was a challenge with this new bike. It was good."

Aprilia also has an ace up its sleeve as the only factory still with access to technical concessions, most notably extra testing, something Vinales is determined to exploit.

"It makes me calmer," he said of the concessions. "If one weekend I can’t find the set up, we have many test days when I can take profit to find a better one. We’ll take maximum profit of the benefits, especially for the tracks where we’ll race two or three weeks [after testing].

"I’m here to work very hard and push myself. It’s a demanding challenge. It’s not easy to change and arrive here and be on the top. But I think it’s possible.

"The team understand more what I need to be fast. These three days in Mandalika were more profitable than Sepang. Sepang there was good grip. Here we suffered in a different way but I saw the timesheets and am quite happy.

"I feel optimistic because even if the bike is not perfect, we’re able to be inside the top five, especially in rhythm. I feel quite confident that we are going to find a better bike."

Vinales confirmed there is no time for any private testing before the Qatar season-opener on March 4-6.

"But after America [April 10] we will try to make tests. I need to understand the bike. My potential can be much higher than what we’re doing now. It’s about the team setting up the bike for my riding style," he said.

"In these three days I understand a lot. We saw the strengths and low points of the bike. Now I can’t wait to be in Qatar. I know how to go fast there [Vinales won for Yamaha last season] and I think this bike will work well there.

"For me, consistency will be key to bring the bike to the top. If you do one race good and the next one less, you lose the way, start changing the bike. It’s not good to make a podium one day and be tenth the next weekend.

"We need to build the bike to be consistently in the top five and then going up from there. Last year was complicated for me, I lost a bit the confidence, I also need building up!"

Team-mate Espargaro also has plenty of incentive for a victory this season; as well as potentially the first in the premier-class for Aprilia, it would be his first in grand prix after a debut back in 2004.