Maverick Viñales was a priority option for Aprilia for the 2025 MotoGP season, but he chose to leave the team, which will feature Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi, and move to KTM Tech3. This decision surprised many MotoGP followers, considering Viñales’ strong performance with the Noale manufacturer.
In a press conference, the Spaniard explained the reasons behind his decision to leave Aprilia for the Austrian manufacturer, citing several factors: ‘Basically one of the main reasons is because I follow my instinct and I saw a little bit what’s is going to be in the future, the bike to be in, and I felt it was the correct move. Then obviously seeing the potential I can achieve like in Austin, and not being able to do it in more races means something, so that also had a big weight on my decision. But it’s a challenge that I wanted to face and I want to really accomplish. I bet everything on performance and on riding, and I think that was the best choice I could do for a project and also in terms of competition’.
There was speculation that the delay in communication from the team regarding the signing of Martín influenced Viñales’ decision. However, the rider denied this, assuring that he had already decided his future beforehand:
– My decision, to be honest, I was thinking about it since Jerez. That I didn’t feel really to continue because after Austin I was a bit shocked, that what I’m able to do, but only one race from 20, I don’t like. I would like to do it much more because I think I can. Actually I was really thinking a lot on that and obviously with the market that moves so fast I wanted to be a little bit more calm, arrive to the summer [break] and decide with a lot of time. But seeing that also Aprilia was quite fast signing Jorge – obviously it could be a really good team, Jorge and Maverick – but I already made up my mind earlier than Mugello. I’m happy for the team for sure, that they will have Martín and Marco, so good luck.