Maverick Vinales: “It's a gamble - I can be the first to win on four bikes"

While Maverick Vinales feels his Aprilia team is the most likely to challenge Ducati’s MotoGP, he says that moving to KTM is his best hope of winning titles.

Vinales announced his switch to the Tech3 KTM earlier this year, in a fairly surprising move considering the Spanish rider’s breakthrough maiden Aprilia victory at the Americas Grand Prix in April.

That Texas win made Vinales the first rider since Loris Capirossi to win premier class races with three different manufacturers (Suzuki and Yamaha before Aprilia). Winning with KTM would make the #12 unique.

“I think I can be the only one in history to win with four bikes,” Vinales told MotoGP.com in the lead up to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. “Obviously, it’s a good objective.”

Vinales said that the decision to move was an instinctual one. “It’s a gamble, what I did, but I believe in myself and my instincts say that I [should] go for it. I have no fear.”

As well as his instincts, Vinales says that the GP victory he took in Texas, in addition to the Sprint wins he had there and in Portugal, made him decide to leave.

“I think with the victories I closed the circle, so my objective in Aprilia is done,” Vinales said. “So, I feel totally free to go away.”

The 2013 Moto3 World Champion explained that, rather than the victories themselves, it was his inability to repeat the form that brought them which tipped him in favour of leaving.

“I feel there is always something [that means] that I cannot shine like I shone in Austin,” he said. “I need to find that, this is my motivation. Basically, my move [to Tech3 KTM] was based on that.”

Reflecting on his time at Aprilia, Vinales expressed gratitude to the Noale brand for taking him on after he was dropped by Yamaha in the middle of 2021.

“Of course I’m very grateful for the opportunity that Aprilia gave me,” he said. “I’m really happy. And I tell them every single day that I will give my best and I will try to help [them] a lot in this second part of the season to give up a really good bike for next season, and I’m completely honest and I will do [it].

“Also, I want good results, and I think Aprilia is on my side in this area to work hand-to-hand.”

But there was also confusion at how long it took for him to get to the top step on the RS-GP.

“I could not understand why it took so long to [win] in Aprilia,” he said, “because in 2022 the bike was very good, and Aleix [Espargaro] did a great season, but I was not able to do it, and I don’t know why.

“Then, in 2023, we incorporate Manuel [Cazeaux, Vinales’ crew chief] in the team and we found some things in the setup that were going against my riding style and I was suffering a lot. Then, as soon as we switched that [changed the things that were holding Vinales back], we started to do good results.”

Vinales admitted that staying at Aprilia might have been the easier option than the one he eventually chose.

“To keep doing good results, maybe it was easier if I stay [at Aprilia], I also think about that: I know the bike, I know the people, I know I can do good things.”

However, the Spaniard thinks that KTM is his better shot at a title challenge.

“For me,” he said, “P5 or P7 in the championship is the same. I want to be in the front, and maybe I can [at KTM] or maybe not, who knows?”

Vinales now has 10 races remaining with Aprilia, and he is hoping for a return to the kind of form that saw him win in Austin back in April.

“We need to understand why, in Europe, only one manufacturer (Ducati) did a big step ahead and we were unable to do it,” Vinales said. “So, I’m very curious to see in the second part of the season if we are able to close that gap and to fight again how we started the season, because we started like a rocket and I think it’s possible we have the level and we have a good potential.”

Explaining the differences between Aprilia and Ducati, Vinales said that it’s race pace, rather than raw speed, that is the advantage for the Bologna brand.

“Consistency I think is the biggest difference. They [Ducati riders] are able to be constantly on really good lap times, especially in the race, and we are missing in the second part of the race.”

Although he is leaving the Noale factory, Vinales thinks Aprilia is the only manufacturer that can challenge Ducati, and the Spaniard is still targeting the top three in the championship.

“I think if we are tough, and we work closely, we will give them a fight, so that’s our target — I think we are the only ones who can do it.

“We don’t have to forget that we are top five [in the championship], and saying goodbye with a top three will be fantastic. I’m dreaming maybe a little bit too much because I need to beat really big names, but it would be really cool.”