MotoGP | KTM: Beirer reveals the background to the negotiation with Vinales

This week MotoGP added another big news to the starting grid of the 2025 season. After the resolution of the Ducati soap opera, with the entry of Marc Marquez into the official team and the move of Jorge Martin to Aprilia, attention has turned focused on the Madrid native’s alleged teammate, Maverick Vinales.

After a crescendo of tension in the statements, with which the Roses driver went so far as to deny his boss Massimo Rivola in Montmeló, saying that his renewal was not certain, last Thursday he confirmed the information that Motorsport.com had anticipated on Wednesday evening . Vinales will go to KTM, on one of Tech3’s two RC16s – which will cease to be GasGas and will be treated on par with the Mattighofen factory team -, in whose garage he will team up with Enea Bastianini, as we had also confirmed on our website.

On Friday, a day after the announcement, KTM Motorsports boss Pit Beirer explained to the media a maneuver that has caught the attention of many, which will see Vinales, Bastianini, Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder join as starting riders, as well as Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaró as luxury testers.

The former motocross rider described the history of the operation in detail, underlining the seriousness shown by the Spaniard, who participated in the realization of the project, proving that he was not bluffing: “We have never lost contact with Maverick since he won a world title on a KTM, many years ago (the Moto3 title in 2013). Our friendship and relationship have always continued. So we were in close contact at one point feeling that he wanted to be with us,” Beirer began.

“He wasn’t like some riders, who waited to see if the doors of Ducati would open. His involvement was very strong from the beginning. In a certain sense, I was happy, because he gave us a little of time; not much, I can say, because things happened quickly,” he continued.

“I think that Maverick has a very good team and a very good bike at the moment, so it was also a positive surprise for us to see that he was very open and very serious, that he wasn’t just trying to make us make an offer to have a offered by others. We met, discussed the terms and came to an agreement. There was no back and forth, no ups and downs. It was a very positive experience and it gave me a great feeling.” .

Beirer confirmed that he had thought about this move and that he was forced to act quickly after the events at Mugello with Ducati, which instead offered “interesting opportunities” to Vinales, as the Spaniard confirmed at the last “Aprilia All Stars “.

“We had this solution in mind, but some time ago I wouldn’t have known if it was a realistic possibility. It’s also clear that, if things like Mugello happen, you have to be quick in putting the team together. After the discussions in Ducati, it was clear that the drivers wanted to decide very quickly. I think we did our duty and were ready to react at the right time.”

With this decision, KTM will have to say goodbye to Augusto Fernandez and Jack Miller, who will leave Tech3 and the factory team respectively. Beirer regrets that the frenzy of the premier class market did not give him more time to react.

“I thought we could have had a little more time to give the two drivers to do things well, but the market was under so much pressure that if we hadn’t taken the opportunity to start discussions and conclude them the day before yesterday, we wouldn’t have had this possibility again. So we made the difficult decision to move forward. We gave up on something when it was clear that it wasn’t part of our plans. Mugello was the turning point very quickly and the window to sign these two drivers was very, very narrow. We had to react very quickly and that’s what we did,” concluded the German, who confirmed that the final deal with Maverick was concluded at 8pm. on Wednesday evening.