The Spaniard will bring the curtain down to his three-year stint with Aprilia, which has so far yielded one grand prix victory in Austin this year and a total of seven podium finishes.
He will join the structure currently managed in tandem by Tech3 and KTM’s parent company Pierer Mobility group, the team which currently competes under the GasGas banner.
Initially, Vinales’ intention was to explore the possibility of extending his contract with Aprilia, which handed him a reprieve in 2021 following his acrimonious split from Yamaha. However, the Noale-based brand preferred to wait for Espargaro to decide his future, before sitting down with Vinales to negotiate a contract.
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
It remains to be seen who will now occupy the second factory RS-GP at Aprilia, although current VR46 riders Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio di Giannantonio are seen as the most likely candidates.Â
Vinales debuted in the World Championship in 125cc in 2011 and won the Moto3 title two years later, achieving up to 12 victories in his three years in the entry-level category.
After a single season of Moto2 in 2014, which yielded four victories and a best finish of third in the standings, he made the leap to the top category as an official Suzuki factory rider in 2015.
He went on to record his maiden MotoGP win for Suzuki in 2016 before moving over to Yamaha.
In his debut with the Iwata marque, replacing Jorge Lorenzo and as Valentino Rossi’s team-mate, Vinales won his first two races, in Qatar and Argentina, and the fifth, in France.Â
Between 2018 and 2021 he added five more race wins to his tally, although it wasn’t enough to fight for the title.
In 2025, his eleventh season in the premier class, Vinales will compete for a fourth different manufacturer.