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Maverick Viñales has completed the first two days of his Aprilia career, riding the RS-GP for the first time at the Misano circuit. The Spaniard was very happy afterwards, in no small part because he was also fast. He ended the day with a fastest lap of 1'32.4, he told Catalan journalist Damià Aguilar. Earlier, Lucio Lopez of MotoRaceNation, present at the track, reported that Viñales had set a lap of 1'32.8 on a soft tire with 8 laps on.

How fast is that? To put Viñales' times into perspective, the race lap record is 1'32.319, set by Pecco Bagnaia in last year's Misano 2 race, while Viñales himself holds the pole record, with a time of 1'31.077 set at the same event.

The fact that Viñales holds the pole record at Misano is evidence that he is fast at the track, but to be close to the race lap record after just two days on the bike is a sign that he has adapted very quickly. Aprilia did not change the bike much for Viñales, using the chassis and electronics settings taken from Aleix Espargaro's bike.

Blissed out

Viñales himself was extremely happy when he spoke to the media after the test. The happiest he had been, "probably in my life!" he told us. "The time that I am the most happy, because after five years there [at Yamaha] doing ups and downs and we didn't understand many things, at the end you say 'what is going on?' But as soon as I jumped to Aprilia I know my potential, I know what I'm able to do even more."

He had tried to enter Aprilia as a blank slate. "I honestly went without expectation, because you never know how the bike is going to react," Viñales told us. "But I have to say that I was a bit nervous because I never tried a different engine. I was used to riding bikes that have an inline four and I didn't know how it would react, but I was quite surprised that how I adapted to the engine was quite easy and this is nice." The engine character helped make the switch easy. "Basically, the bike has a really [good] handling engine, which is very important also for a long race."

With Viñales set to make is race debut on the Aprilia in 10 days time at Aragon, replacing the injured Lorenzo Savadori, he feels this gives him a big head start on his first full season aboard the RS-GP in 2022. "It was nice to jump quick because I have the opportunity to do six races and this is much better than to do just five days of testing. I will try to prepare well, and also with Aleix, the 2022, which is very important for me."

Sooner than expected

Actually being able to race at Aragon had been unexpected. "I didn't expect it," Viñales said. "I expected to be at home waiting for November to test the bike, but this opportunity is made first of all because I left [Yamaha] and then because Aprilia give me the opportunity. So basically what makes me really happy is that all the guys are working very hard, the atmosphere is really strong and also coming from a podium is the best time, you know, to join the team and try to give them the feedback." Viñales praised the work of the current team as well. "For sure Aleix and Savadori made an amazing job because they ride very fast and the bike is working well. I was quite surprised because the adaptation to the bike has been quite fast."

That fast adaptation had persuaded him to try to start racing as quickly as possible. "I wanted to race as soon as I did three [runs] with the bike," Viñales told us. "I think it's the best way way to prepare for next year. Even if maybe I'm not ready because it's difficult on the riding style still to be at one with the bike because I was used to ride a completely different bike. But I think in Aragon I will understand a little bit more, also riding with Aleix, he is fast so I can learn quickly how the bike works. But I feel strong. I feel very strong and this is the positive point."

Adapting to a different bike also requires a change of riding style, Viñales explained. "What I need to change is the way of braking, it's a bit different. This is a big learning process because the way that you can brake with the Aprilia is totally different and for this I will need laps." His new teammate can help in that regard "Also Aleix is very hard braking and I will need to learn a little bit from him how he does that strong brake. But I think this will come with confidence. This is the important point."

Goals still to achieve

The split with Yamaha had not caused him to hang his head and give up hope, Viñales told us. His ambition did not stop burning. "You know after everything happened, the only thing I had in mind was to ride, keep riding, I will not give up! Until i get my objectives accomplished. So I keep going. I keep going very strong. I will push at my maximum already from the first lap in Aragon. I know my place in Aprilia for what it is so I need to push so much, I need to improve myself and I need to keep going."

Viñales was not surprised that Yamaha let him race the Aprilia this year. "No, it's fair. Everyone has to have the opportunity and to leave the things in the past," Viñales said. Yamaha also had something to gain, of course: in exchange for releasing Maverick Viñales, Aprilia could also release Andrea Dovizioso from his testing contract. That allows Yamaha to put the Italian on the Petronas Yamaha from the Misano race, and gives him five races to get up to speed for next year.

When the honeymoon is over.

That Maverick Viñales should be happy after two days on the bike is a positive sign, but it is also a natural consequence of having changed. The Spaniard was deeply unhappy in the Yamaha team, and had been for some time. A change of scenery brings a breath of fresh air, and the eagerness with which he was welcomed will have made him feel wanted, an important motivation for Viñales.

That he should be fast is also hardly a surprise. Viñales is the undisputed champion of winter testing, frequently topping each preseason and post-race test. He is fast when he can ride alone, and choose his own lines.

The real test will come when things get difficult. When Viñales has a bad weekend, or finds that he can't overtake during a race, or has a technical problem. Right now, the Spaniard is in the honeymoon period with Aprilia. But honeymoons come to an end, and then the real work of the relationship starts.

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It has been a busy day at the Misano circuit. At a private test organized by Ducati, Maverick Viñales got his first taste of the Aprilia RS-GP, Franco Morbidelli rode a superbike again for the first time, and factory test riders carried on with the work of testing developments on the MotoGP machines.

There was a surprisingly long list of riders on track at the test. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro was present, along with Johann Zarco, Pecco Bagnaia, and Luca Marini on Ducati Panigale V4 streetbikes. Stefan Bradl was testing the Honda RC213V MotoGP machine, Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio were present for KTM, Franco Morbidelli was riding a Yamaha R1, and Matteo Baiocco was alongside Maverick Viñales in the Aprilia garage.

All eyes were on the Aprilia garage, of course, where Maverick Viñales was riding the Aprilia RS-GP for the first time. The Spaniard completed a total of 65 laps, and posted that his best time was a 1'33.0 on his Instagram page. With no official times published, and no live timing, there is no way to verify that time. But to put it in perspective, the race lap record is 1'32.319, set by Pecco Bagnaia during the Misano 2 race last year. The pole record is 1'31.077, set by Maverick Viñales during qualifying for the same event, a race he went on to win.

Though no official statements were released, Italian broadcaster Sky was present, as were staff from Dorna. Speaking to the official MotoGP.com website, Aprilia Technical Director Romano Albesiano described the test as "very positive".  "He didn't find any major issues or problems or discomfort," Albesiano said. "We're just working on some fine-tuning, suspension, tires. Normal work as if he had been riding this bike for a long time. So it's been really positive."

The MotoGP.com website also have a short video of Viñales riding the bike for the first time. Very few conclusions can be drawn from it, especially given this is the first time on the Aprilia for Viñales.

Franco Morbidelli's return to riding a large-capacity motorcycle was also important. The Italian has not ridden since he withdrew after the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. Since then, he has been recovering from surgery to fix a torn ACL and damaged meniscus. Morbidelli is expected to return to MotoGP at the Misano round on September 19th.

It is not really news, after Petronas made the announcement in their press release stating they would be ending their sponsorship of the Sepang Racing Team, but today, the team officially announced the end of the current structure. At the end of the season, the Sepang International Circuit will close the Sepang Racing Team, and with it, the MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 teams.

The MotoGP team will continue, however, though under new management. Team Principal Razlan Razali and Team Director Johan Stigefelt are to setup a new structure, the plans for which are to be announced at the Misano round of MotoGP, set to be held on September 16th. The Moto2 and Moto3 entries are to be abandoned, and only the MotoGP entry will be maintained.

Although the press release speaks of the title sponsor and team entity being announced at Misano, there is already a lot we know. The team is to have Italian utilities company WithU as its title sponsor, the company already a prominent backer of SRT.

As for riders, there are both media reports and paddock sources which believe the deal is already done for Andrea Dovizioso to take one of the two seats at the team for 2022. According to Italian media, the final details are being hammered out, mostly in an attempt to get the Italian an A-spec, 2022 Yamaha M1, something which sponsor WithU would be willing to back. The timing for that is a little late, as normally those decisions have to be taken by the end of June, but given that the news of Petronas' withdrawal only came at Austria in July, it is conceivable that Yamaha were already planning to provide a second A-spec bike to the team had Petronas remained as sponsor.

Dovizioso's move back to Yamaha came after attempts to conclude a deal with Aprilia failed at the last moment. The deal came very close indeed, so close that a press release had already been drawn up and accidentally published on one official Aprilia website. The link to the page has now been taken down, but the URL tells the story of the deal: https://www.aprilia.com/at_DE/aprilia-world/racing/andrea-dovizioso-to-r...

For Dovizioso, a deal with the WithU Yamaha team would be a return to the Japanese manufacturer after a long absence. Dovizioso raced for Yamaha in the Tech3 team for the 2012 season, after losing his seat at the Repsol Honda squad with the arrival of Casey Stoner. He left after just one season, to take the place of the departing Valentino Rossi at Ducati, who was in turn heading back to Yamaha. It was a successful year, with Dovizioso racking up 6 podiums for the Tech3 Yamaha squad.

Darryn Binder is likely to line up alongside the Italian in the WithU Yamaha team. The South African has been linked to the seat ever since Valentino Rossi announced he would be retiring at the end of the year. Binder is the best of the current Moto2 and Moto3 Petronas riders, and the rider with the most potential. It would be a major step for the South African, however, to jump directly from Moto3 to MotoGP. But with a young inexperienced rider and a competitive veteran, that could be the ideal situation for the new satellite team.

The new team is also a reorientation of the Petronas squad. When Petronas first took over the Yamaha satellite seats from Tech3, well-connected paddock sources insisted that the Petronas SRT team would eventually take over as the Yamaha factory effort. That looked plausible in 2019 and 2020, but those rumors faded away from the beginning of the year. A lack of results, unhappiness with having Valentino Rossi foisted on them, a decision not of their own making, and dissatisfaction with the negotiation with Yamaha over machinery for 2022 and beyond fractured the relationship between Yamaha and SRT.

Even as late as the middle of the season, Razlan Razali was saying that SRT's role was as a junior team to the factory squad. That would push them in the direction of choosing younger riders to prepare them for a move to the factory team. With Petronas gone, the Sepang Racing Team shuttered, and a new entity created under Razali and Stigefelt, it seems the team is destined to return to a role as a more traditional satellite squad after all.

The press release announcing the folding of the team appears below:

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team to conclude

PSRT to bid adieu at the end of 2021; a new beginning in store for 2022

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team will cease to be at the end of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship season.

The team, which is represented in Moto3 and Moto2 by PETRONAS Sprinta Racing and in MotoGP by PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team can confirm it will conclude all activities both racing and non-racing at the end of the 2021 World Championship season.

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team Principal Razlan Razali and Team Director Johan Stigefelt will continue in the MotoGP category from 2022 onwards with a new entity. This new entity and title partner will be announced at the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini in Misano on September 16.

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team in its current format was formed in 2018 to race in all categories of the MotoGP World Championship, from the 2019 season onwards. The team was supported in this by title sponsor across all three categories, PETRONAS, and the team’s owner, Sepang International Circuit.

In only its fourth race, the MotoGP squad was on the front row of the grid. Its first podium came after seven races. In 2020, the team took the first win for a satellite Yamaha MotoGP team in over 20 years and finished second in the overall Team Standings with rider Franco Morbidelli finishing second in the overall rider rankings and as Top Independent Rider. For 2021, the team was joined by the Greatest Of All Time rider, Valentino Rossi. Over the three years of its existence, PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team has achieved poles and podiums in all three MotoGP categories and wins in both Moto3 and MotoGP.

The team’s origin dates back to 2015 with M7 DRIVE SIC Racing Team in Moto3, which secured two podiums in its first season. Title partners PETRONAS came aboard in 2017, birthing the new PETRONAS Sprinta Racing banner with the squad growing to encompass Moto2 in 2018.

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team would like to thank all its fans, crew, partners and riders for being part of the incredible journey. The team is dedicated to finishing the 2021 season in the best way possible.

Razlan Razali

We have experienced a remarkable voyage over the past years. From a small start in 2015 there was a great step for us in 2018 when we secured an entry to the premier class of MotoGP and built a MotoGP squad from scratch. In 2019 we were on the grid and just four races into our rookie season we were on the front row. By the seventh race we were on the podium. In 2020 we secured the first race win for a satellite Yamaha MotoGP team in over 20 years and finished second in the overall team and rider championships. In 2021 we raced with the Greatest Of All Time rider, Valentino Rossi. This is an incredible story.

The team will race its final race in Valencia and we thank all our crew, riders, fans and partners for their support. In particular, we thank PETRONAS, with whom none of this would have been possible. Together we pushed the PETRONAS brand and Malaysian expertise to the forefront of the grid and captured unprecedented brand exposure and coverage, exponentially surpassing all expectations.

We also thank Sepang International Circuit for their vision and support of upcoming Malaysian talent over a long period. Our collective dream was to have a Malaysian rider competing for podiums in the MotoGP World Championship. Sadly, we were not able to achieve this in the short life of our squad, but we can reflect upon tremendous success by every other measure.

Our final season has not reached its conclusion yet and we continue to strive for the very best results possible across all three classes. Thank you all.

Johan Stigefelt

Thank you to PETRONAS for the opportunity given over the past three years and everything we have achieved together. I am sad we were not able to continue this project as we established a great team across all three categories of MotoGP in such a short time and our vision was for this to be a long term project. We have worked with incredible personnel, fantastic riders and enjoyed the support of great partners and wonderful fans and we offer our heartfelt gratitude to them all.

Thank you also to Sepang International Circuit with whom the relationship goes back to 2015. Together we grew from a small two-rider Moto3 squad to one of the biggest teams to have ever existed in the MotoGP paddock. I am proud to have been part of this journey together and without Sepang International Circuit this would not have been possible.

As a squad, we achieved our first win, in Moto3, at Le Mans with John McPhee in 2019 and we had already taken our first pole position in MotoGP at the Spanish GP with Fabio Quartararo in Jerez that same year. We enjoyed six MotoGP race wins between Fabio and Franco Morbidelli in 2020. We have fabulous memories of the last three years, but now we look to the rest of this season to end the year in the best way possible.

In particular, I really want to thank everyone in the Moto2 and Moto3 squads who are not only colleagues but have become true friends over the past years. It is very hard for me to say goodbye to all these people especially as they have all been crucial contributors to our success and the structure we’ve built together over these years. I want to thank them all in particular.

For the future we have a new and exciting project. We remain in the paddock in MotoGP with new shirts to wear. But more of that later; for now we have the remaining races of the 2021 season to race as hard as possible. Thank you all.

PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team Stats *up to British GP 2021

MOTOGP category
12 poles
16 podiums
6 wins

Moto2
1 pole position
1 podium

Moto3
6 poles
12 podiums
2 wins

Sepang Racing Team Highlights

Sepang Racing Team is a unique entity in motorsport, encompassing MotoGP with PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team and both Moto2 and Moto3 with PETRONAS Sprinta Racing. The team’s beginnings in the World Championship go back to its first Moto3 entry in 2015, with expansion to Moto2 in 2017, and finally a MotoGP entry in 2019.

The teams are part of the operation of the world-renowned Sepang International Circuit, home to 19 Formula 1 Grands Prix and host of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix since 1999.

2019 was a remarkable debut MotoGP season for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team with a tally of seven podium finishes plus six pole positions that secured the Independent Teams’ Championship title with riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo. Fabio proved to be the sensation of the year, earning the Rookie of the Year and Top Independent Rider titles.

In 2020, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team successfully defended its Top Independent Team title by leading the overall team and rider standings for much of the year. Both Fabio and Franco took three wins over the course of the year, with Franco and the team taking the vice title by finishing second in the rider and team championships. The team’s first MotoGP win was the first for a satellite Yamaha MotoGP squad in over 20 years.

For 2021, Greatest Of All Time rider Valentino Rossi joined the squad alongside Franco.

In Moto3 with PETRONAS Sprinta Racing, John McPhee took Sepang Racing Team’s first World Championship Grand Prix victory after leading from pole in the French Grand Prix in 2019 and proved to be a championship contender in 2020. For 2021, John was joined by fellow Moto3 race winner, Darryn Binder.

For 2020, PETRONAS Sprinta Racing in Moto2 expanded to a two-bike line-up with Xavi Vierge and Jake Dixon both showing race-leading pace over the course of the year. Both riders remained in 2021.

Sepang Racing Team is infused with Malaysian talent to showcase this on a world stage, supported in this objective by title partner, PETRONAS, who bring their expertise, passion and prowess to the track.

The rocky relationship between Maverick Viñales and Yamaha has come to an early end. The Japanese factory announced today that they would be releasing Viñales from his contract effective immediately. Viñales is now free to start work with Aprilia, in theory at least.

The de facto sacking of Viñales is the end of a precipitous decline in the relationship between the two parties. The Spaniard signed on for two more years with Yamaha (for 2021 and 2022) very early, agreeing a new deal with Yamaha in January 2020, when Viñales was being hunted by Ducati.

Viñales had a difficult 2020 season, finishing 6th in the championship, though first of the riders on a 2020 Yamaha, and with one victory and two other podiums. 2021 started off well, with victory at Qatar, but the relationship went downhill from there. At Barcelona, Yamaha decided to switch crew chiefs, bringing in Silvano Galbusera to replace Esteban Garcia. At the Sachsenring, Viñales finished last, and in the week between the German and Dutch MotoGP rounds, he decided to leave Yamaha a year early.

Viñales returned in relatively good shape after the summer break, but a series of problems during the restarted race, including starting from pit lane,  at the Styrian Grand Prix (Austria 1) left him frustrated. He took out his frustration by overrevving his M1 on the last four laps of the race, holding the bike in fifth and on the limiter on each of the Red Bull Ring's straights, an action which could easily have damaged the engine.

Yamaha took those actions extremely seriously, and personally. Japanese factories take a very dim view of intentionally damaging the bikes they build, and this seems to have been the last straw. At a meeting of the executive board in Japan on Thursday, the decision was taken to terminate the contract immediately. In effect, Viñales was sacked.

There are parallels with what happened between Johann Zarco and KTM in 2019. There, too, Zarco announced he wanted to get out of his contract a year early. And two races later, after Zarco had made some very critical remarks about the RC16, KTM announced they would be releasing him from his contract.

This feels different, however. At the core of the Yamaha-Viñales split is an absolute lack of trust and confidence, with neither party trusting the other. Viñales appears to have lost confidence in Yamaha much earlier this year, while Yamaha's frustration with Viñales has been growing since the beginning of the year. The Spaniard was brought in to Yamaha to replace Jorge Lorenzo and try to win the MotoGP title. Despite winning races, he has never looked like being a consistent title contender.

The move frees Viñales up to take the place of Lorenzo Savadori at Aprilia. Whether that happens remains to be seen: jumping straight off a Yamaha onto a very different motorcycle like the Aprilia RS-GP is no simple swap.

What teams and riders want to do when changing machines is to be able to take their time doing several laps at a time with no time pressure, to evaluate and understand a new machine. Three 45-minute sessions, one 30-minute session, and the pressure of qualifying and the race are a far from ideal environment for learning to understand a bike. However, if Viñales and Aprilia can approach it as getting an early jump on testing for 2022, that would reduce some of the pressure on him.

The sacking of Viñales leaves Yamaha with a hole to fill. The most obvious move would be to put Cal Crutchlow on the bike for the rest of the year, though that would disrupt the British rider's testing program, which is ostensibly why he was hired. Yamaha may face pressure to put Valentino Rossi on the bike for the final part of his final season in MotoGP. That would create a raft of complications, however, especially with sponsors of the Petronas Yamaha SRT team, who were paying to see their names on Rossi's bike. Furthermore, with Petronas and Eneos (who sponsor Yamaha) rival oil companies, that would make it almost impossible contractually. Petronas could then use the second seat to test out some of their riders from Moto2 and Moto3 on the bike.

That might be unusual, but we have seen some extraordinarily unusual things in MotoGP this year. So we can't rule anything out.

The Yamaha press release appears below:

YAMAHA AND MAVERICK VIÑALES END 2021 AGREEMENT WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

Yamaha and Maverick Viñales have mutually decided to advance their separation and end their previous 2021 agreement with immediate effect.

Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 20th August 2021

After the Dutch GP (28 June 2021) it was announced that Yamaha and Maverick Viñales would bring their two-year contract for 2021-2022 to an early closure at the end of the current MotoGP season.

Following recent events at the Styrian GP and after deep consideration by both parties, the mutual decision was reached to separate with immediate effect.

LIN JARVIS - MANAGING DIRECTOR, YAMAHA MOTOR RACING

“In Assen Yamaha and Viñales already announced the mutual decision to cut short their original 2021-2022 programme and to finish it at the end of 2021. A commitment was made by both rider and team to continue to the end of the current season, with the team guaranteeing its full support and the rider giving his maximum efforts so that we could finish the project ’in style‘.

“Regretfully at the Styrian GP the race did not go well or end well and consequently after deep consideration by both parties, the mutual decision was reached that it would be better for both parties if we end the partnership earlier. The early separation will release the rider to be free to follow his chosen future direction and will also permit the team to focus its efforts on the remaining races of the 2021 season with a replacement rider – yet to be determined.

“I would like to express Yamaha‘s sincere gratitude to Maverick. Yamaha will continue to cherish the good memories and appreciate the work both parties put into the 4.5 years spent together that brought us 8 race victories, 24 podiums, and two third places in the 2017 and 2019 overall rider standings.

“We wish Maverick all the very best in his future endeavours.”

MAVERICK VIÑALES - MOTOGP RIDER

“Following our mutual decision in Assen to part ways a year early, it was also decided to commit to completing the current season with maximum effort from both sides. However, at the Styrian GP the race didn‘t turn out as we had hoped, and regrettably it did not end well.

“After thorough consideration both parties have agreed it would be best to end the partnership with immediate effect.

“I am deeply grateful to Yamaha for the great opportunity. I am also thankful for the support they gave me during these 4.5 years of racing and will look back with pride on the results we achieved together.

“I will always have great respect for Yamaha and wish them the very best.”