Maverick Vinales is struggling through the MotoGP season with shoulder pain – failing to start would mean significant pay cuts – he is calling for a rethink of rider contracts
Maverick Viñales (Tech3-KTM) has been battling an injury to his left shoulder for over a year, which he sustained last season at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
The Spaniard has still not fully recovered from it. The consequences of that crash in qualifying were a dislocated shoulder and a fracture of the greater tubercle, along with damage to the supraspinatus tendon.
The injury required two operations: the first to insert a plate and the second, almost a year later, to remove it, after it became clear that it was doing more harm than good.
At the US Grand Prix, the third round of the 2026 season, Viñales decided to take a break, return to Europe and have the plate removed. Seven months have passed since then.
Vinales has still not made a full recovery. This is also reflected in his statistics. With just twelve World Championship points, he is the lowest-ranked regular rider.
He has missed a total of seven race weekends this season. The whole situation has also cost him his place in the MotoGP line-up for next year. His future is uncertain.
Phillip Island was a recent example of this. On this fast circuit, Viñales won in 2018 as a Yamaha rider and stood on the podium in the premier class on two further occasions. He has always been among the fastest at Phillip Island.
This time, however, he struggled badly on Friday and Saturday, hampered by pain and restricted mobility in his left shoulder.
None of this makes sense to Viñales
Given his limited mobility, his lap times raised the question of whether the long journey to Australia was even worthwhile. He had to retire from the sprint after seven laps due to the pain in his shoulder.
“It makes no sense for me to ride like this,” says Viñales himself. “I’m the first person who doesn’t want to just tag along, and I’m going through a bloody tough time right now.”
“My shoulder hurts, but if I stay at home, I won’t get paid,” Vinales told Motorsport.com Spain when asked whether it was even sensible to race in such a compromised condition.
The wisdom of the Catalan rider competing, even though he knows full well that he can fight for nothing other than getting the bike back to the pits in one piece, is undoubtedly questionable.
According to Viñales, however, he has no other choice, as his contract with KTM stipulates exactly that. The agreement stipulates that he is only permitted to miss three Grands Prix before salary deductions come into effect.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. Of course, I got injured in Q1 whilst riding for KTM, but contracts are contracts. You agree that you’re allowed to miss three races, and from the fourth onwards, money is deducted.”
“I was in a right state during the back-to-back races in Indonesia and Japan. I came back with bursitis and fluid in my shoulder, and the ligaments were in a terrible state too.”
“It took me a week to recover. The arm needs a proper rehabilitation period, and over there I overdid it,” explains the 31-year-old, referring to his physical condition.
Such clauses at the Mattighofen-based manufacturer are by no means an isolated case, however. Most teams include them in their contracts to keep the riders on a tight leash.
In Vinales’ view, changing this practice should be at the top of the agenda for the riders’ union, which the MotoGP riders have now apparently decided to establish once and for all.
” “We need to exert massive pressure to change this, because this is a dangerous sport and injuries are part and parcel of it. Now it’s happened to Toprak: a silly crash, and he’s missing six races,” Vinales points out.