Maverick Vinales & Yamaha are parting ways

KUALA LUMPUR: First a little background for the unaware. Maverick Vinales, is a Spanish rider who had a two-year contract with Yamaha. He had delivered phenomenal performances over the course of time.

For instance, during the 2021 MotoGP Dutch GP in ASEAN, Vinales delivered a sensational performance and finished second. Also, he has won eight races and has been in pole position 18 times at Yamaha. However, now he will be parting ways with Yamaha cutting short his contract period.

The official announcement was made by the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP squad. It came as quite a shock, especially after Vinales stated himself that the rumours of home moving to Aprilia for the next season were false.

Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director, Lin Jarvis said, "It is with sadness that we will say farewell to Maverick at the end of the year. We are in the middle of our fifth season together and over the years we have achieved many highs but also had to manage many lows. After the German GP, which was the most difficult weekend of our partnership, we had important discussions in Assen and came to the conclusion that it would be in the interest of both parties to go our separate ways in the future. Yamaha will put in their maximum effort – as we always have done – to give full support to Maverick and finish this season in the very best way possible."

The tension between Vinales' and his team was pretty evident during the German MotoGP, where he finished last.

On his breaking up with Yamaha, Vinales stated that "This partnership has been very significant to me over the last five years, and it proved a difficult decision to part ways. In these seasons together, we experienced both great achievements and tough times. However, the underlying feeling is of mutual respect and appreciation. I am fully committed and will strive to achieve the best results for the rest of the season."

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