Maverick Vinales’ ongoing shoulder injury has led him to pull out of the Spanish MotoGP in Jerez.

MotoGP heads to Spain this weekend on 24–26 April for the first race since the US Grand Prix in March, which Vinales pulled out of during the weekend.

Vinales’ shoulder injury was sustained last July at the German Grand Prix when he crashed in qualifying. 

The Spaniard described it as “disappointing” to miss the Jerez race, but feels it is the right decision for his body to recover.

“It’s obviously disappointing not to be racing at Jerez this weekend,” said Vinales.

“It’s a huge event for me and the first of my home races this season. 

“I know my body well though and right now the priority is to recover properly and make sure I can come back in the best possible condition for the rest of the season. 

“Everything is moving in the right direction, and the target is to be ready for Le Mans.”

Nicolas Goyon, Red Bull KTM Tech3 team manager, added that it has not been possible to replace Vinales because Pol Espargaro is also injured.

“The most important thing for us is Maverick’s [Vinales] recovery,” said Goyon.

“The gap in the calendar has allowed him valuable time to focus on his rehabilitation and hopefully means he will only miss this one race. 

“He looks to be on track to return for Le Mans, which is very positive. 

“It is also unfortunate that Pol [Espargaro], our reserve rider, picked up an injury during this period, because we know him well and he would have been a strong addition to the team for the weekend in Jerez. 

“With limited time before the event, we evaluated all available options, but ultimately the decision was to focus on running one bike properly for this round.”