MotoGP | Vinales and the KTM choice: “Something prevents me from shining in Aprilia”

When Aprilia announced the signing of Jorge Martín for the 2025 season, the brand’s goal was for Maverick Vinales to remain at their side. According to Vinales, however, his decision to move to KTM, via the Tech3 team, had already been made and was made official a few days later.

A choice that may surprise, given that Aprilia is the only brand that has denied Ducati a clear path in 2024 this year. Vinales himself has won two Sprints and took the victory on Sunday in Austin, while the Borgo Panigale riders have won all the other main races.

This win at the GP of the Americas remains Vinales’ only one on the Italian bike, which he has now been riding for three years. When he left Yamaha with a bang in the summer of 2021, he hoped to quickly reach the top with Aprilia, and although he came close to winning several times, most notably at Silverstone in 2022, the feeling of having hit a glass ceiling pushed him to make another switch.

“I couldn’t understand why it took me so long to win with Aprilia,” Vinales told the official MotoGP website. “In 2022 the bike was very good, Aleix (Espargaro) had a very good season but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know why.”

“In 2023 Manuel (Cazeaux, the crew chief he had met previously at Suzuki) joined the team and we found something, obviously, in the setup that was working against my riding and making me suffer a lot. As soon as we got back on track, we started getting good results. I kept asking myself why I couldn’t put it all together. Then Austin came, but I think I can do even more.”

Vinales then came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult for him to succeed with Aprilia, which led him to sign with KTM and Tech3: “I always feel that there is something that prevents me from shining like I did in Austin. I have to find it. That is my motivation. In fact, my decision was based on that.”

“I think I’ve closed the circle with the victory, so I’ve achieved my goal with Aprilia,” Vinales concluded. “I feel totally free to leave.”

Vinales felt he was at the end of his cycle with Aprilia and in his eyes this new challenge was the only way to get closer to his dream of a world title: “To continue getting good results, it would have been easier to stay. I also said to myself: I know the bike, I know the people, maybe I can do good things but for me being fifth or seventh in the championship is the same thing. I want to be at the front. Who knows, maybe I’ll succeed, maybe not”.

The only rider to win with three brands in MotoGP – Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia – Vinales is therefore aiming to improve his record with a fourth manufacturer: “I think I can be the only rider in history to win with four different bikes. It’s a very good goal. What I did was a gamble, but I believe in myself and my instinct told me to try. I’m not afraid.”

Before discovering KTM, Maverick Vinales still has half a season to play with Aprilia and intends to dedicate himself completely to it, to offer the brand good results until his departure.

“Of course I am very grateful for the opportunity that Aprilia has given me. I am very happy and I tell them every day that I will give my best, that I will try to help them build a very good bike for next year. I am absolutely sincere and I will do it. I also want good results and I really think that Aprilia is on my side to work side by side.”

Maverick Vinales

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

After trailing his teammate Aleix Espargaro in previous seasons, Maverick Vinales has become the main pursuer of the Ducati riders this year. He currently sits fifth in the championship, but dreams of doing even better to leave Aprilia on a positive note, even if he is aware of the difficulty of this challenge.

“I think we are very good in the Aprilia garage. We are often first behind Ducati. Sometimes you have to see the truth, and this result is a motivation. If we give everything and work together, we will be fighting with them. This is our goal. I think we are the only ones who can do it, we must not forget that we are in the top five.”

“To leave with a top three finish would be fantastic. Maybe I’m dreaming a bit too much because you have to beat some very big names, but it would be… really nice.”