Vinales admits to a lack of support amid his current injury-induced performance slump
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| Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3 Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images |
Maverick Vinales says he needs greater support from KTM and Tech3 as he continues to battle his way back from injury, but feels he is only getting criticised for his lack of speed.
The Spaniard hit a new low at the German Grand Prix last weekend, where he was reduced to being the slowest rider in the entire field. After ending up a distant 19th in qualifying, more than a second off the ultimate pace, he finished dead last in the sprint, more than eight seconds behind Johann Zarco’s stand-in Cal Crutchlow.
Sunday turned out to be equally dreadful and, after running at the very rear of the pack for much of the race, he pulled into the pits with four laps remaining, saying his lack of fitness made it impossible to finish the race.
The Sachsenring weekend suggested that Vinales’ recovery isn’t linear, after previous weekends showed clear signs of progress from the collarbone fracture he sustained exactly a year ago in Germany.
Vinales admitted the current situation has been particularly difficult because he feels he is not getting the backing he needs from those around him.
“Right now, I need some support from the team, but all I get is criticism,” he said on Sunday. “It's really hard to keep going, because sometimes they're happy to see me, but other times it's like I'm a stranger.”
Vinales went under the knife at the end of April, with doctors removing a screw that had become loose after being inserted during the operation on his shoulder following a crash he sustained last year.
While he has shown flashes of pace since then, he has yet to prove to KTM that he can rediscover his old form and deserves another contract for 2027 and beyond.
Vinales said the prolonged recovery process is becoming increasingly difficult for him, and he is eager to return to competitiveness after being blighted by injury woes over the last 12 months.
“I don’t have any strength on the bike; I couldn’t help but slide out at every turn,” he said.
“I don’t even know if it’s fixable. I’ve considered putting myself in the hands of Marc Marquez’s doctors.
“I expected to be doing much better, but it’s true that the doctor who operated on me told me I won’t be fully recovered until Indonesia. That’s no good for me. I don’t know what to do. I guess I’ll spend the summer in Austria (at Red Bull Performance Centre), training.”
- Rachit Thukral and Gerald Dirnbeck
