Maverick Vinales still struggling with injury; to assess fitness on Friday in Austin

Maverick Vinales continues to deal with a complicated left shoulder injury dating back to July, which forced him in and out of MotoGP races in 2025. The Spaniard will test his condition on Friday in Austin before deciding whether to take time out to recover.

The Tech3 rider was thrown from his KTM at the start of Q2 at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, sustaining a fracture of the greater tubercle of the humerus, ligament damage and a supraspinatus impingement in his left shoulder.

Vinales underwent surgery in Italy and endured a stop-start second half of the season, completing just five of the final 13 grands prix, despite attending several others where he was ultimately unable to race on Sunday.

After an intensive pre-season programme, it appeared the Spaniard had fully recovered – particularly after completing the opening round of the year in Thailand without apparent issue. He finished 16th, attributing the result to a lack of understanding with the bike.

However, speaking to Motorsport.com last weekend in Goiania, Vinales admitted he is still not fully fit.

“I’m still recovering, but I don’t want to make excuses. It hurts, but I can handle it,” he said, dismissing the idea that his poor results have anything to do with his shoulder.

“In the pre-season, with the team, we decided to take an alternative route, but seeing how things are going, we’re going back to the 2026 bike, the one the rest of the KTM riders use,” he explained, although the injury could indeed be related to his poor performance.

Doubt for Austin

Motorsport.com understands that Vinales finished the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in significant pain and is now evaluating whether to stop and recover, taking advantage of the break before the Spanish Grand Prix on 26 April.

The initial plan is to race in Austin and then visit the doctors who operated on him in Italy to reassess his recovery. However, pushing through the United States Grand Prix could worsen the condition, so he will take to the track on Friday and decide — based on how he feels — whether to continue or withdraw.

Following Austin, and due to the postponement of the Qatar Grand Prix, there is a window of nearly a month until the end of April, which could allow for a more complete rehabilitation.

Throughout 2025, Vinales opted for what he described as a “recovery on the bike” – an approach that ultimately proved ineffective.

Now, the rider has avoided publicly highlighting the extent of his injury, aware that doing so could give KTM grounds to sideline him. As with many MotoGP riders, extended absences could also impact his salary – something he already experienced last year.

Speaking again on Thursday at Austin, Vinales began to admit that his fitness might be affecting his performance on track.

“I trained a lot in the winter and it felt quite okay with the training bikes, but MotoGP is a different sport, so I didn’t improve in the last three races,” he said.

“So next week I will need to recheck and see what is going on. Because obviously I cannot ride at my best. 

“I’m not riding at the top. I can see on the data that on the right-hand corners, I’m at the level or even better, but on the left side, I lose a lot, there can be only one reason for that. The bike is similar. I think there is a reason and we need to check why.”

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