Maverick Vinales ready for “beautiful" new MotoGP challenge at KTM
“I think [the KTM is] much more suitable for my riding style”
The only rider to defeat Ducati on a Sunday this season, Maverick Vinales swaps Aprilia for KTM with his RC16 debut at Tuesday’s Barcelona test.
A ten-time MotoGP winner across Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia machinery, Vinales signed off his RS-GP career with a forgettable 15th place at Barcelona on Sunday.
The Spaniard - who won the Portimao Sprint then took a double victory at COTA early in the season - explained that fitting the hard rear tyre had been his undoing:
“We didn't make the correct choice on the tyre, especially the rear… There is nothing else to say.
“Obviously, there are many things to improve but I leave it to the next guys.
“Just accept the result and move on. Very excited for the next step.”
That ‘next step’ will see Vinales join the Tech3 KTM team, where he will aim to become the first rider to win on four different brands of MotoGP machine.
But while Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder moved ahead of Vinales to finish best-of-the-rest behind an all-Ducati title top four, KTM hasn’t won a MotoGP race since Thailand 2022 and didn’t even win a Sprint this season.
“I think it's a beautiful challenge,” Vinales said of his new chapter in orange. “Obviously, it will be not easy. It's a very different bike. But I think it’s much more suitable for my riding style, this will be a plus.
“But in any case there is a lot of work to do and I never tried the bike so I can't say nothing. But looking at the results, obviously, if you want to battle who we know we need to battle [Ducati], you need to improve.”
Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola, who signed Vinales from Yamaha to join Aleix Espargaro, said:
“An important chapter is coming to a close with Maverick who provided a significant contribution to the growth of our bike.
“It’s the end of an era with Aleix, a rider who represented an example of courage and perseverance for all.”
With Espargaro retiring and Vinales departing, newly crowned Pramac Ducati champion Jorge Martin and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi will form the all-new factory Aprilia line-up in 2025.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
