Tech3 KTM rider Maverick Vinales underwent a profitable surgical procedure on Tuesday to take away a free screw from his shoulder.
Vinales was pressured to withdraw from final weekend’s MotoGP US Grand Prix following Friday follow as a result of extreme ache, amid an already troublesome begin to the 2026 season.
Speaking in Austin, he revealed {that a} screw inserted into his left shoulder after his Sachsenring crash in 2025 had turn out to be displaced, requiring a minor corrective process.
After taking an early flight from Texas, Vinales visited the Hospital of Sassuolo in Italy on Tuesday, the place he was handled by a crew led by physician Giuseppe Porcellini.
The operation was profitable, with the 31-year-old posting an image of the eliminated screw on social media.
“Nicely… that already feels higher,” he wrote. “The screw is out and surgical procedure went nicely. Large due to Dr Porcellini, Dr Padolino and Dr Giorgini for taking good care of me.
“Now it’s time to concentrate on restoration and are available again at 100%. Comeback loading.”
Regardless of having excessive expectations from his second season aboard the KTM RC16, Vinales failed to attain some extent within the opening trio of races, whilst team-mate Enea Bastianini bagged a podium and Pedro Acosta persistently completed on the entrance with the manufacturing facility crew.
His outcomes to date in 2026 are a far cry from the shape he confirmed within the early a part of 2026, when he emerged as KTM’s prime performer throughout its two groups.
Vinales pursued a distinct improvement route to different KTM riders within the three flyaway races this 12 months, together with operating a singular chassis. He was contemplating aborting that strategy earlier than damage pressured him out of the US GP.
Whereas he initially dismissed the damage as an element, having felt comfy on the bike throughout testing, he admitted in Austin that “there will be just one motive” for his lack of outcomes.
Vinales shall be aiming to return to motion on the Spanish Grand Prix on 25-26 April, with the postponed Qatar spherical creating an prolonged hole within the MotoGP calendar.
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