A difficult start to the 2025 MotoGP season for KTM was helped by strong performances by Maverick Vinales before his near-season-ending shoulder injury was sustained in Germany.

The start of KTM’s season was notably poor, with seventh their best result in the opening four rounds.

Vinales had finished second in Qatar, but was demoted to 14th via a time penalty for breaching MotoGP's front tyre pressure rules.

But the speed Vinales showed in Qatar, and in subsequent races in Spain and France proved the potential of the RC16, and the Tech3 rider was, at the time, out-performing all his fellow KTM riders.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing boss Aki Ajo says Vinales’ early success on the RC16 was down to his “good attitude”, although this made the timing of the Spaniard’s shoulder injury in Germany particularly poor.

“Maverick’s [Vinales] injury was coming in a bad moment because Maverick was really one guy who was pushing the project forward at the beginning of the year with his good attitude to come out in the new project with the new bike,” said Ajo, speaking to MotoGP.com.

“It was not an easy start, but he was finding the right attitude and was pushing the whole project forward. 

“Qatar was an incredible result and since that, all the time let’s say, steady work, and of course the injury coming in the bad moment when we were just improving technically all the work around the project and of course it’s the same for him.”