Maverick Vinales has been withdrawn by his Yamaha team for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
A statement released by Yamaha on Thursday made clear that Vinales was suspended “due to the unexplained irregular operation of the motorcycle by the rider during last weekend’s Styria MotoGP race.”
Yamaha added that “the rider’s actions could have potentially caused significant damage to the engine of his YZR-M1 bike which could have caused serious risks to the rider himself and possibly posed a danger to all other riders in the MotoGP race.”
A video released later the same day by the official MotoGP website showed Vinales revving his engine on the limiter multiple times in the final few laps. This included doing so twice in the pitlane as the Spaniard failed to cross the finish line to finish the race.
The incident has only added to an already fraught relationship between Vinales and his factory Yamaha team.
Vinales accused them of a “lack of respect” after the German Grand Prix in June, complaining that they were doing nothing about his repeated complaints over a lack of rear grip.
A week later, following the Dutch GP at Assen, Yamaha announced that they would be parting ways with Vinales at the end of the season. This split might yet come sooner following last week’s incident, with Yamaha stating that “decisions regarding the future races will be taken after a more detailed analysis of the situation and further discussions between Yamaha and the rider.”
No rider has been selected to replace Vinales this weekend, meaning Frenchman Fabio Quartararo will be the only factory Yamaha rider on the grid.
Featured image courtesy of Ivan via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.
