Maverick Viñales (KTM Tech3): “Flow is even more important here than top speed”

KTM Tech3 rider Maverick Viñales made headlines at the recent MotoGP weekend in Sepang. The Catalan rider, who had seemingly been written off, rode almost pain-free in qualifying – and promptly and confidently secured a place in Q2 with his RC16. In the races, however, Vinales was once again unable to keep up. Fifteenth and fourteenth places were the modest haul for a rider who had previously stood on the top step of the podium in Qatar and was also among the frontrunners during the series’ last visit. Starting from sixth on the grid, ‘Top Gun’ Viñales had blazed his way to the front, overtaking Marc Márquez. Following a mistake and a subsequent penalty for tyre pressure, Viñales had to hand back the trophy for second place.

In Qatar, the conflicted emotions are written all over Viñales’ face; joy and frustration are even closer together here. Viñales: “The track is fantastic, partly because it has so much grip and our bike worked superbly here at the last event. But that also means it’s harder for me. With such tremendous grip and the forces involved, it’s much harder to maintain control over your own strength, especially when the pain kicks in,” Vinales explained a week ago, thereby justifying his performance on the ‘low-grip track’ in Sepang.

Losail, 2025: Vinales hatte im GP «göttlichen Speed»

Foto: Gold and Goose

Veteran Viñales on the recipe for success on the desert circuit: “Here, it’s particularly important to get into a rhythm. If you manage to get into the flow, that’s more important here than, say, top speed.” Viñales recalled: “I’ve already won here – on the Yamaha – and even back then my top speed was down to 15 km/h. If you’re in the flow, you can still win at Losail with that.”

After the first 45 minutes on the circuit, Maverick Viñales’ comments were borne out. In FP1, a KTM rider was among the best. Youngster Pedro Acosta finished in 4th place. Maverick Viñales, in 15th place, was 1.4 seconds off the fastest time, but was quicker than Enea Bastianini (17th)

Topic of the week

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

With his third-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest of the 36 Formula 1 world champions to date. The 20-year-old Italian is on a record-breaking run. The Tifosi are dreaming of Antonelli in a Ferrari.

Read More

TV Program

Tomorrow

Lusail: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

07.11.2026 - 10:25