Maverick Viñales will miss the Spanish GP; Tech3 will not replace him.

It seems destined that nothing will be easy for Maverick Viñales at the start of the 2026 season. The former Aprilia rider is having a particularly difficult start to the year, without scoring a single point and sitting 22nd out of 23 riders in the world championship standings. With a 16th place finish in Thailand as his best result, Viñales is a shadow of his former self, while his teammate Enea Bastianini has already managed to reach the podium in the Sprint race in Austin and finish 6th in the Grand Prix the following day.

But in Texas, Viñales couldn't take advantage of a KTM with regained performance, as he withdrew due to a displaced screw from a previous shoulder surgery. As a precaution, the ten-time winner in MotoGP had preferred not to run and had to undergo corrective surgery at the end of March to put the screw back in the intended place.

A minor intervention, certainly, but one that requires recovery time and deprives Viñales of a return to competition for the fourth round of the season in Jerez (Spain). "It's obviously disappointing not to be racing in Jerez this weekend. It's a very important event for me and my first home race of the season." Maverick Viñales regrets“I know my body well and, for now, the priority is to recover well so I can come back in the best possible condition for the rest of the season. Everything is progressing in the right direction and the goal is to be ready for Le Mans » Tech3 considered replacing him with KTM's test rider, Pol Espargaró, but the former rider for the French team (from 2014 to 2016 and then in 2023) is… also injured!

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Pol Espargaró injured in turn

As a result, due to a lack of time and solutions, Tech3 and KTM have decided to field only one bike, that of Enea Bastianini, who will want to confirm the progress seen in Texas before the long break following the postponement of the Qatar Grand Prix. “The most important thing for us is Maverick’s recovery. The break in the calendar has allowed him to focus on his rehabilitation and hopefully means he will only miss one race.” assures Nicolas Goyon, the Tech3 team manager. “He seems to be on track to return at Le Mans, which is very positive. It’s also a shame that Pol, our reserve rider, got injured during this period, as we know him well and he would have been a solid asset to the team at Jerez. With little time before the event, we evaluated all the available options, but the final decision was to focus on getting the most out of a single bike for this round.”

"I don't ask for these kinds of situations, but they keep happening nonetheless." "Günther Steiner, the CEO of the French team, breathes a sigh of relief." “There’s a certain irony, of course, but the reality is that this isn’t how we wanted to arrive in Jerez. First Maverick was recovering, then Pol injured his hand, and suddenly the whole plan changed very quickly. We looked at the alternatives, but we also have to make sensible decisions for the team and the overall project. The positive point is that Enea arrives this weekend with good momentum after Austin, which gives us a solid foundation for the European tour.”

After Jerez (April 24-26), the drivers will head to Le Mans for the highly anticipated French Grand Prix from May 8 to 10.