Vinales plays the Lorenzo card, Bastianini warns: "Too much can be counterproductive"

At KTM the spotlight is mainly on Acosta, but in the Tech3 garage there are riders like Vinales and Bastianini who want to shine in the 2026 MotoGP World Championship.

Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini had a 2025 below expectations. The Spaniard was affected by an injury, while the Italian struggled to adapt to the KTM RC16. Both had some good race weekends, but the goal for the Tech3 riders in the 2026 MotoGP championship is to find consistency in results. Neither of them lacks talent.

Vinales has great self-belief and, to unlock his full potential, he decided to make an important move: to start a collaboration with Jorge Lorenzo. For weeks we’ve been seeing on social networks videos of the KTM Tech3 rider’s training, closely followed by his performance coach. Being able to work with a five-time world champion can certainly be an added value; then it will be the track that tells us whether the change has produced concrete results or not.

Maverick spoke to the media on the day of the team presentation for the 2026 MotoGP season and had the chance to talk about his preparation: "During the winter I focused on working on the technical details of my riding style to tap into all my talent and potential, so as to improve. I also worked physically; after the injury I had even lost weight, I weighed about 61 kg, now I’m 65–67. I feel stronger than when I finished last season; the strength has returned and it’s even greater than what I had in the tests a year ago. Now we’ll see if riding a MotoGP bike I’ll feel pain; with the other bikes I’ve ridden in recent weeks, the shoulder has responded really well".

Going more specifically into the collaboration with Lorenzo, Vinales is convinced it can give him the boost he needs to be the best version of himself: "I expect to improve technically on the bike. I’ve trained in a very different way compared to previous years: if I want a certain thing to happen, I have to do something different. With Jorge I’m working to improve in every aspect. We work and we have fun. He’s made me run in every condition and that’s important to try to unlock all the potential. I hope he can follow me at all the grands prix. The relationship is fantastic and I’m surprised, because in the past I knew a different Jorge and we hadn’t exchanged kind words. I’m trying to leverage all his experience. This has to be a fantastic year".

Bastianini had a 2025 with few flashes of brilliance, and he too has prepared as best as possible to face the new MotoGP season; he wants a different approach compared to the past: "Last season was strange and complicated; there were many changes for me. After the last test in Valencia I was positive, but the break was necessary to do a mental reset and then focus on 2026. I think I’ve prepared well; I’m ready, curious, and motivated to start again. During testing it will be important to find a good bike setup. Changing crew chief is not easy. Last year I was a bit tired and stressed by the situation: not physically, but mentally. I don’t know if that compromised my results. Maybe in the past my mistake was to look immediately at the results and the gap to the other riders; this year I want to focus on my feelings".

The rider from Rimini also has a contract expiring, but he is focused above all on what he has to do on track to be competitive with the KTM RC16: "The market doesn’t stress me; I know my potential and everyone in the paddock knows what I can do with the bike when I have everything under control. I’m confident I can be fast from the start of the championship. Compared to last year I have a different mindset and KTM is motivated to give us the best bike possible. We’ll have lots of things to try at Sepang. I know the KTM is a fast bike; this year it will be a bit different too, but it’s not easy to unlock its potential. I have a lot to prove, but I’m not worried: I know I can do it. I have to work a bit more on consistency and qualifying, which held me back a lot in 2025".

Asked about Vinales’ decision to collaborate with Jorge Lorenzo, Bastianini expressed the following view: "I never thought about working with a former rider. I don’t think Maverick made a wrong choice. He surely has trained a lot on the bike in recent weeks, but for me there are things I don’t consider productive: I think too much can be counterproductive. Anyway, I respect what he has done".