Maverick Vinales admits joining one team would have meant going to the ‘dark side’ of MotoGP

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Other than taking a victory early in the 2024 MotoGP season, Maverick Vinales failed to finish any higher than fifth across 20 races.

He claimed seventh place in the World Riders’ Championship with a total of 190 points to his name as he signed off from Aprilia following a turbulent few seasons.

Vinales has signed with KTM to ride for Tech3 from 2025 as he bids to achieve a maiden MotoGP title five years on from leaving Yamaha, where he managed third in both 2017 and 2019.

Brad Binder finished fifth for them this year including one podium, but the three other riders on KTM bikes all failed to make the top 12 or reach the rostrum once.

It highlights the uphill battle that the manufacturer faces if they want to catch the likes of Ducati in the future.

Signing Vinales is a step in the right direction but at the age of 30 in just a few weeks, is he the right man to help lead them in a better direction?

Maverick Vinales refused to go to the ‘dark side’ of MotoGP with Ducati

Ducati have won the last five consecutive Constructors’ Championships and their bikes are a hallmark of excellence within MotoGP.

Three of their five bikes on the grid are GP25s, while Gresini uses year-old GP24s which are still competitive.

READ MORE: What ‘senior figures’ at KTM are saying about their future amid potential Lewis Hamilton investment

Speaking to DAZN in a recent documentary called ‘Maverick: Two Lives’, Vinales revealed how he refused to join the dark side of MotoGP when assessing his future.

“What is the next challenge I want? For me the challenge is to win the world championship,” he said. “Now I have come to the conclusion that there are two sides: either you are the challenger or you go to the dark side. Either you go to KTM or you go to Ducati.

“At Ducati, it is very difficult to win. How are you going to beat the official team? It is very complicated, you have the same bike, but not the same weapons. So I only had one option, to go to KTM and be the challenger.”

When could KTM challenge for a MotoGP championship?

The advantage that Ducati holds could stand for the next two years or so, especially while the factory team have Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez riding for them.

New bikes are set to arrive in 2027 which should help to change things up, but it will require a lot of hard work for anyone to catch the Italian front-runners.

READ MORE: KTM rider Pedro Acosta shares what he’s told his crew after having the most MotoGP crashes in 2024

Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’lgna mentioned that they are most worried about rival teams having better riders than ever which could pose a threat to them now.

But that relies on their teams being able to give them bikes which can compete for victories – something which KTM haven’t been able to do since 2022 when Miguel Oliveira claimed two wins for them.