Maverick Vinales’ MotoGP career has so far run for 163 rounds since he made his debut with Suzuki in 2015. In that time he has taken 10 grand prix wins, which equates to a winning average of just 6.135% – or one per season, with the Spaniard now in his 10th in the premier class.
His latest came last weekend at the Americas Grand Prix, in which he became the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to win races on three different manufacturers. In MotoGP’s 75-year history, only Loris Capirossi (Ducati, Honda, Yamaha), Eddie Lawson (Honda, Yamaha, Cagiva), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha) and Mike Hailwood (MV Agusta, Norton, Honda) have done what Vinales has.
Truly, Vinales is an enigma. He was the hottest property in the paddock when he stepped up to MotoGP with the fledgling Suzuki project in 2015, having won the Moto3 title in 2013 (a year after he walked away from the 2012 fight over a dispute with his team at the time) and finished third in his only Moto2 campaign in 2014.
His first MotoGP win came in 2016 at the British GP on the Suzuki, by which time Yamaha had already prized him away from its Japanese rival to replace Ducati-bound Jorge Lorenzo. Two races into his Yamaha career in 2017, Vinales had a 100% win record Lorenzo struggled on the Desmosedici, while a third victory followed in a dramatic French GP when he beat team-mate Valentino Rossi in a duel the Italian crashed out of.
Then it all just fizzled out. The M1 package proved inconsistently competitive, with Vinales not winning again until Australia 2018. He won twice in 2019, once in 2020 and once in 2021 at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.
But, as team-mate Fabio Quartararo dragged the bike to the championship, Vinales slumped. Poor starts meant he couldn’t fight much on the underpowered Yamaha, while discontent brewed behind the scenes. Yamaha’s replacement of crew chief Esteban Garcia didn’t sit well, while Vinales grew ever more frustrated at feeling like he was becoming a test rider.
Vinales showed plenty of potential with Yamaha before relations soured and he was dropped after the 2021 Styrian GP when in his frustration he deliberately over-revved the engine
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
A lowly 19th at the German GP as he simply gave up saw the cracks widen, as he felt Yamaha’s responses to his woes were “starting to seem disrespectful”. Showing little emotion for his podium at the following Dutch TT, Yamaha…
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