Vinales Says Shoulder Healed, Flags Muscle Strength Ahead of Mandalika MotoGP

Maverick Vinales ended his long wait on the MotoGP track by finishing 14th at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi on Sunday (5/10/2025). The result gave him two points and marked his first comeback since the German GP in July. More than just the number, the Spanish rider claims the shoulder injury that has dogged him is now fully healed.

Vinales suffered a crash in Germany that forced him to sit out for quite a while. Now, he feels his physical condition is much better, though there is still homework in the form of restoring muscle strength. According to him, gym training is not enough to restore the strength needed when riding a motorcycle, especially in the arm and shoulder areas.

"My feeling is that this shoulder is healed. It just needs more load each time, and to keep building strength. In many areas I have strength, but in some other parts I have to ride the bike, because this cannot really be done in the gym, it is very difficult," said Vinales, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

The 31-year-old rider admitted he had doubted he could score points given his less-than-prime physical condition and imperfect adaptation to the RC16. However, he was surprised to be able to perform better than expected. "I am not too worried about the shoulder because I know I can handle it, but I am more worried about the arm, because I suffered a lot during the race, especially in the forearm. Here it is very tiring with hard braking," he added.

Even so, Vinales considered the race at Motegi a valuable practice session. He even found fairly good speed in the middle to the end of the race, though he could not yet push the bike to the maximum limit. "We are on a good path. I still need to understand this bike. I am not riding perfectly, so I have to keep improving myself," he stressed.

Looking ahead to the Indonesian GP at the Mandalika Circuit in Lombok, Vinales is optimistic the track will be friendlier to his physical condition. Although the air temperature is very hot, he considers the absence of hard braking an advantage. "Mandalika should be a bit easier, because there is no hard braking. There are indeed direction changes, but with direction changes I have no problem now, like in the past," he explained.

However, behind the positive news about his recovery, Vinales again took a swipe at KTM. He blamed the Austrian manufacturer for the decision not to give him a seat on the MotoGP grid next season. This criticism adds to the list of tensions between the rider and his team, even though in terms of performance he is showing signs of a revival.

With the 2026 season still long, the big question is whether Vinales can maintain momentum and prove that KTM made a mistake. Or will it be the opposite, with physical limitations and an uncertain future becoming stumbling blocks? Either way, the Mandalika GP will be the next test for the resilience of his shoulder and his mentality.