Apart from a win at the start of the 2024 MotoGP season, Maverick Vinales has failed to finish higher than fifth in 20 races.
After a tumultuous few seasons, he was signed from Aprilia and finished seventh overall with 190 points to his name.
Mixed vinyls KTM He finished third in 2017 and 2019 as he bids for his first MotoGP title in five years since leaving Yamaha for 2025.
Brad Binder finished fifth this year, including one podium, but his other three riders all failed to make the top 12 or reach the rostrum once.
It highlights the uphill battle the manufacturer faces if they want to capture the likes of Ducati in the future.
Signing Vinales is a step in the right direction but at 30 in a few weeks, is he the right man to help lead them in a better direction?
Maverick Vinales refuses to go to the ‘dark side’ of MotoGP with Ducati.
Ducati have won the last five consecutive constructors’ championships and their bikes are the hallmark of excellence in MotoGP.
Three of the five bikes on the grid are GP25s, while Gresini still uses the year-old GP24s.
Read more: What the ‘top people’ at KTM have to say about their future with Lewis Hamilton’s investment
to speak DAZN In the recent documentary Maverick: Two Lives, Vinales reflected on his future and expressed his reluctance to join the dark side of MotoGP.
“What is the next challenge for me? The challenge for me is to win the world championship,” he said. Either go for KTM or go for Ducati.
“At Ducati, winning is very difficult. How to beat the official team? It is very complicated, you have the same bike, but not the same weapons. So I have only one option to go to KTM and challenge.
When can KTM compete for the MotoGP Championship?
The advantage held by Ducati can last for the next two years, especially when the factory team Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez ride.
New bikes are set to arrive in 2027 which will help change things, but it will take a lot of hard work for anyone to catch the Italian frontrunners.
Ducati general manager Gigi Dallegna said that rival teams now have better riders than ever and are now worried that they could pose a threat.
But that depends on their teams being able to provide them with bikes that can compete for wins – something KTM hasn’t been able to do since 2022 when Miguel Oliveira claimed two wins for them.
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