Vinales withdraws from Indonesian GP amid injury woes

Maverick Vinales will sit out the remainder of the Indonesian Grand Prix to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained in July, Tech3 KTM has announced.

The decision was made after Saturday morning’s qualifying at Mandalika, where he finished 120th and last on the RC16 with a time that was 1.376s off the ultimate pace.

“Maverick Vinales will withdraw from the Indonesian Grand Prix. It has been decided with the team that Maverick will focus on his left-shoulder injury,” Tech3 said in a short statement.

Vinales had already stated on Friday that he was considering withdrawing from the remainder of the season to allow his shoulder to fully heal, having struggled for results since his return to action at Barcelona last month.

However, at that time, the Spaniard said any decision about the rest of the campaign would be made on Sunday after he had discussed the matter with Tech3 and KTM. 

This implied that he would see out the rest of the Lombok race weekend, but it has now been revealed that he won’t take part in Saturday's sprint race or the grand prix itself on Sunday.

No announcement was made about his participation in the remainder of the season.

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP via Getty Images

Vinales suffered the first major injury of his premier class career at the German Grand Prix in July, where he broke his shoulder in a highside on a wet track in qualifying.

After skipping that race and the following round in Czechia, the Tech3 KTM rider attempted to make a comeback following the summer break in Austria, only to realise he needed more time before getting back on the bike.

It wasn’t until two rounds later in Barcelona that he made a full return, but results have proven hard to come by, with 13th place the best result he has achieved in the ensuing three grands prix.

Vinales’ withdrawal means only 19 riders will take part in the two races over the weekend. Factory Aprilia rider Jorge Martin did not travel to Lombok after suffering a collarbone fracture in the sprint race at Motegi, while Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura withdrew from the Indonesian GP on Thursday due to the right-wrist injury that had already forced him out of last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

With Vinales out, KTM will be represented by factory team riders Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta, as well as the sole remaining Tech3 bike of Enea Bastianini.

Acosta put in a solid effort in qualifying to grab fifth on the grid, but neither of the other three KTMs made it into Q2.

Binder will start the race from 15th on the grid, while Bastianini will line up in 17th place.