Since June, there has been speculation about changing Maverick Viñales from Yamaha to the Aprilia factory team. This is officially confirmed by the manufacturer from Noale.
During his four-and-a-half years at Yamaha on the MotoGP factory team, Maverick Viñales has met expectations on and off. He is considered the world champion in training and has so far won nine MotoGP races with the M1. He is miles away from the achievements of his predecessor Jorge Lorenzo (2010, 2012 and 2015 world champions). The collaboration came to a sad climax ahead of last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, when he halted the Spaniard’s Yamaha for driving the M1 engine to rev limit multiple times in the previous Styrian GP, putting him at risk.
We’ve known since the end of June that Maverick Vinales will not honor his contract with Yamaha, which originally ran until the end of 2022. Since then, there has been speculation about his transfer to the Aprilia factory team.
The manufacturer from Noale has just confirmed: Viñales will drive alongside Aleix Espargaro in 2022. The defector has signed a one-year contract with an option for a second season.
The 26-year-old is not allowed to comment on his future employer due to his Yamaha contract. Massimo Rivola, managing director of Aprilia Racing, said: “Maverick is a driver of the highest caliber and we are delighted to announce his commitment. We have established ourselves among the major players with our fundamentally redesigned RS-GP and will also be our factory team in 2022 to lead Aprilia to success. It would be our honor to make all our skills, enthusiasm and passion available for a publication. Maverick’s arrival does not mean distancing himself from Lorenzo Savadori, he will remain an important part of the Aprilia Racing family.”
This is what the MotoGP teams could look like in 2022:
Repsol Honda: Marc Marquez, Paul Espargaro
Ducati Lenovo Team: Jack Miller, Biko Bajnaya
Yamaha Monster Energy: Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Quartaro
Suzuki Xstar: By Alex Raines, Joanne Mir
Red Bull KTM Factory Race: Brad Bender, Miguel Oliveira
Aprilia Racing Team: Alex Espargaro, Maverick Vinales
Pramac Racing Ducati: Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco
Sky VR46 Ducati Racing: Luca Marini, Marco Besecki
Petronas Yamaha SRT: Garrett Gerloff? to be? Darren Bender?
Honda LCR: By Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami
KTM Tech3 Factory Racing: Remy Gardner, Fernandez
Flexbox Gresini Ducati: Ina Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannatonio
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