Maverick Vinales. Image: MotoGP.com
Maverick Viñales’ father Angel says that Yamaha’s MotoGP bike isn’t bad, it just doesn’t go with his son’s style.
Viñales and Yamaha will part ways at the end of the season, only halfway through a two-year deal, on the initiative of the rider.
The Spaniard’s deal for 2021 and 2022 was announced in January 2020 and he announced at the Dutch TT last weekend that he has been thinking of a way out since the start of the current campaign.
At that time he spoke of “not” [being] able to show my full potential ”and described his situation as a“ nightmare ”as Yamaha was obviously unable to respond to his feedback.
Ironically, Viñales had just helped give the Iwata maker’s factory team a one-two at Assen, with Fabio Quartararo taking the victory.
That was Quartararo’s fourth win in 2021 and after nine laps in a 19-lap season according to the current calendar, the Frenchman is now at the top of the points table for well over a full race.
According to Angel Viñales, who heads a team in the Supersport 300 World Championship that supports WorldSBK, the split came about because neither Yamaha nor ‘Mack’ could adapt to each other.
“Maverick is not leaving Yamaha because the bike is bad, so that’s clear, but because Yamaha didn’t give him the bike he needed and he didn’t adapt to the bike that Yamaha has,” he told the Spanish sports newspaper AS.
Angel said a stiffer motorcycle would suit his son, whose style he compared to that of Honda’s six-time champion Marc Marquez.
In his remarks, he also referred to Jorge Lorenzo, whose three premier class titles all came with Yamaha, but who withdrew after a gloomy, accident-ridden season at Honda.
“This bike corresponds to the riding style of Lorenzo or Quartararo,” explains Angel Viñales.
“It’s soft like butter. Maverick needs a stiffer motorcycle. Why? Because Maverick is like Marc. They attack hard to reach the potential. “
He summarized: “[Yamaha] didn’t manage to give him what he wanted and he didn’t manage to ride this bike 100 percent. “
It was speculated that Maverick Viñales was on his way to Aprilia, perhaps with a deal already made, when reports of a possible Yamaha split surfaced over the Dutch TT weekend.
While he did confirm after the race that an early exit from Yamaha was possible before it was confirmed the next morning, at that point he denied there was a deal with Aprilia.
So the 26-year-old has nowhere to go, but since he’s recently become a father himself, he had a good reason to break out of his current situation.
“Maverick is leaving because he’s not happy that way,” said Viñales senior.
“At a time when he was very happy with his daughter at home in Spain, he realized that he was no longer happy [at Yamaha]. He came [to the races] and asked himself, ‘What problem will I have today?’
“The media attacked him and said it was up to him, him, him – and the moment came when he exploded and had enough.
“Maverick has found stability at home.
“He has matured a lot and when his daughter was born he thought that it couldn’t be that he was so happy in one place and howled in another. That `s not worth it.
“He already has money, what should he do, live bitterly? No.”
It is not yet known who will replace Viñales at Yamaha Factory Racing, although an appointment for 2020 MotoGP runner-up Franco Morbidelli from the SRT satellite team is a logical option.
SRT would then have to find two new riders, as Valentino Rossi suspected that a resignation is likely and that the latest developments in the Yamaha ranks will not influence his decision-making.
MotoGP is taking its summer break before the first of two consecutive races will take place at the Austrian Red Bull Ring from August 6th to 8th.