After a season complicated by injury, Maverick Vinales is ready to give what he can to KTM\u2019s early preseason testing effort for the 2026 MotoGP campaign.<\/p>\n
Vinales made his return to racing at the 2025 finale in Valencia, after missing several races in the second half of the year following the shoulder injury he sustained before the summer break in Germany.<\/p>\n
Vinales retired from the race before the finish, cutting his Valencia Grand Prix short when he felt his physical condition was getting too weak, with an eye to Tuesday\u2019s test.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a good motivation seeing the guys in front, I was catching little-by-little to Enea [Bastianini],\u201d Maverick Vinales<\/a> said of his Valencia MotoGP<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying, trying, but at a certain moment I started to do mistakes because my arm was tired, I was going late on change of direction, going wide, going to the part of the track that there is no grip.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cI said \u2018There is no meaning to risk if the important thing right now is to look forward to next year\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was quite smart from my side to not keep pushing and doing mistakes that can cause a crash, especially in all left corners.\u201d<\/p>\n Vinales expects that he will be able to ride in Tuesday\u2019s test, but will need to be cautious with his run plan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I do runs of four laps, it\u2019s not a problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think my trouble starts when I do eight, nine, 10 laps in a row. If I do short runs, it will be okay and for me I will have all the test complete.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n He expects that even these short runs will be enough to do a good job for KTM, though.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to do it really simple, to be honest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think one of the methods I want to have for next year is to do a simple work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we\u2019re going to test the important things in the good hours, trying to understand if the direction of next year is the correct one, even though I think in only one track it\u2019s very hard to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut to see where we go, this is very important to understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cSo, my target on Tuesday is to give a good direction, give good comments, test well, and then start my proper recovery for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of the development itself, Vinales is clear about what needs to improve on the RC16: braking, and overall grip.<\/p>\n