Marco Bezzecchi
Tech3 ace Maverick Vinales has now emerged as the most likely rider to replace Pedro Acosta in the factory KTM team from the 2027 MotoGP season should the latter leave.
KTM are believed to have identified Vinales as the best option to lead their plans at the start of the 2027 MotoGP regulations due to fears that Acosta will not sign a new contract. Acosta is set to be out of contract with KTM after the 2026 campaign, and he is eager to join Ducati.
Ducati share Acosta’s very keen interest in a move for the Spaniard to join compatriot Marc Marquez in Borgo Panigale in 2027, as well. So, it is said that KTM have already told Vinales that he will join their works MotoGP team in 2027, after discussing their plans last October.
Vinales astounded the KTM hierarchy during his first season on the RC16 with satellite team Tech3 in 2025. It was also said that KTM considered promoting Vinales from Tech3 for 2026 to replace Brad Binder, but they decided against it after the Spaniard fractured his shoulder.
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Vinales was the second-highest scoring KTM rider in the 2025 standings before he suffered a shoulder injury in a crash during qualifying for the German Grand Prix. Acosta led the way among the KTM stable with 98 points, over Vinales’ 69, Binder’s 47 and Enea Bastianini’s 42.
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Binder has now backed Vinales to be an even better rider in 2026, too, after he hired three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo as his performance coach. Lorenzo accepted Vinales’ request for help in physical, strategic and technical aspects after the 2025 season finished.
“Lorenzo is a multiple champion, a legend of the sport,” Binder noted, via quotes by GPOne. “And Maverick is an incredible rider, who has won countless races and is very talented. So, I think their collaboration can be very positive.”
Maverick Vinales was the second-highest scoring KTM rider in 2025 before his shoulder injury
Vinales fractured his shoulder in qualifying for the 2025 German GP, which ultimately forced the 31-year-old to miss eight Grands Prix spread across two spells. He initially returned from injury for the Catalan GP but struggled for results, so he sought to let his shoulder heal fully.
The injury came as a cruel blow, as Vinales had taken some strong results after joining Tech3 on a two-year KTM deal. Vinales lost a P2 finish in the Qatar GP due to illegal tyre pressures, which demoted him to just P14, before he finished P4 at Jerez and P5 at Le Mans and Assen.
Vinales failed to secure another top-10 finish in 2025 after his injury, which also saw him fall down the riders’ standings. The 10-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner ultimately finished 2025 as the worst KTM rider on 72 points, behind Acosta’s 307, Binder’s 155 and Bastianini’s 112.
Factory KTM star Acosta and Tech3 ace Bastianini were the only riders to score a Grand Prix podium with the RC16 in 2025. Acosta finished P2 in Hungary, Indonesia and Malaysia, plus P3 in Czechia and Portugal, while Bastianini registered his sole podium with P3 in Catalunya.
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