As revealed by Autosport on Wednesday, the Spaniard will end his three-year stint with Aprilia, which has yielded one grand prix victory in Austin this year and a total of seven podium finishes.
He will join the structure currently managed by Tech3 and KTM’s parent company Pierer Mobility group, which currently competes under the GasGas banner, but will be rebranded under the KTM marque.
Vinales will be partnered at Tech3 by five-time grand prix winner Enea Bastianini, whose place in the factory Ducati team will be taken over by Marc Marquez next season.
As announced previously, Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta will race in the factory team, whole KTM will supply four factory bikes between its two teams.
"We’re very happy we could bring both Enea and Maverick into our MotoGP project and give them full factory backing and support to keep following their goals and to reach their maximum performance," Pit Beirer, KTM motorsports director, said.
"It’s clear we are talking about two of the fastest riders in the world right now and it is a compliment that they trust us and the first-class operation we’ve created together with Red Bull KTM Tech3.
"The team’s label for 2025 says it all: it is time to strengthen the KTM name again and we couldn’t think of a better way to bring this kind of value to the company than for Enea and Maverick to go full Red Bull orange."
With Vinales heading to KTM, it means Aprilia will lose both its current factory riders, with Aleix Espargaro having already announced his MotoGP retirement at the end of the year. Autosport/Motorsport.com understands he will move to Honda in a test rider role next year.
Initially, Vinales’ intention was to explore the possibility of extending his contract with Aprilia, which handed him a reprieve in 2021 following his acrimonious split from Yamaha. However, the Noale-based brand preferred to wait for Espargaro to decide his future, before sitting down with Vinales to negotiate a contract.
But the MotoGP rider market was shaken up after the Italian Grand Prix when Aprilia announced it had signed Jorge Martin from Pramac, after Ducati picked Marquez as Francesco Bagnaia’s team-mate for 2025-26.
It remains to be seen who will now occupy the second factory Aprilia spot next year alongside Martin, although current VR46 riders Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio are seen as the most likely candidates.
