Can Maverick Vinales repeat his Qatar MotoGP heroics in Spanish GP?
KTM rider Vinales looks ahead to home event at Jerez
Maverick Vinales says KTM must keep “an open mind” coming to the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix following his surprise ride to the podium in Qatar.
The start to the 2025 season has been well below expectations for KTM, with none of its riders getting close to a podium in the first three rounds.
Then at the Qatar GP, Tech3’s Maverick Vinales stunned when he fought for an 11th MotoGP victory before taking the chequered flag in second behind Ducati’s Marc Marquez.
A tyre pressure penalty dropped Vinales to 14th after the race, but KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer called his rider’s performance “real”.
For the Spanish GP this weekend, other KTM riders say they will look at Vinales’ set-up to try to find more form, while Pedro Acosta will have two 2024 RC16s to ride at Jerez.
Vinales says KTM can’t have “any ideas that limit us” in what it can achieve in the coming races, but has also urged patience.
“Obviously we are happy with the result, but happier with the way we are working, with the way we are learning, and especially the understanding we are having with the bike,” he told MotoGP’s Gear Up show on Thursday at Jerez.
“Obviously it’s a great way to put fire inside the factory to really keep working, keep developing, and this is very important for us to keep the motivation.
“We will try, of course [to replicate Qatar].
“In Austin I think it was also a weekend to be close to the podium, if not fighting for it, and in Qatar we were fighting for the victory.
“We don’t want to put any ceiling or any ideas that can limit us.
“We need to really have an open mind and an open mentality to keep improving.
“And we need to keep developing ourselves, because it’s been just four races with KTM.
“So, it’s quite new and it’s a completely different bike, completely different system and different personalities inside the team.
“So, we must all fit together but I think we are in a good direction and all the pieces are matching into place.”
Vinales has had time to rewatch the Qatar race, but still hasn’t let the penalty get in the way of what he feels are more important takeaways from the grand prix.
“It was nice to see again the speed, to see again that I can battle with the big names and especially we see some lights in KTM and this is very important,” he added.
“And we must concentrate on the correct things, as we are doing.”
