Maverick Vinales will return to the Blusens Avintia squad for the final two races of the Moto3 season after going back on his decision to leave the team. The Spanish teenager sensationally walked out on Ricard Jove’s outfit on Friday morning, blaming a lack of competitive machinery and a failure from the team to inform him of other offers for the 2013 season.
Vinales went on to describe them as a “second division team” but will return for this weekend’s penultimate round in Australia having issued the following statement.
“Firstly I would like to publically give my sincerely apologies to those that were harmed or affected by my behaviour in Sepang. I’m here to come forward, ask for forgiveness and take responsibility for my mistakes. I have returned to continue fighting with my Blusens Avintia team for the runner-up spot in the championship. There are many people who deserve it. Sponsors, technicians and the fans.”
“My hasty departure from the Malaysian GP was certainly not good. But with the tension generated by my position in the team, I fell into a state of anger and frustration that was certainly not an ideal state of mind to ride a bike in – especially ride it at the limit.”
“I made a mistake, because although I was not mentally prepared to ride the bike, I should not have left the Sepang circuit, or make such statements. And so, I apologize for the harm that has been accidentally caused, to all the fans, to the members of my Blusens Avintia team, to FTR, Honda, the championship promoters, and especially the sponsors of team (Blusens, Avintia, Repsol, Pacha and other partner companies) and personal sponsors (Alpinestars, Airoh, Wild Wolf, J. Costa etc.) that have both supported us, and without which I would not have achieved the successes to date.”
Vinales’ withdrawal helped Sandro Cortese clinch the Moto3 championship in Malaysia but the fight to finish runner-up is still on. Maverick trails Luis Salom by eight points and is hoping to overturn that deficit in the remaining races while also repairing the damage to inter-team relations.
“I return with the aim to finish the season and regain second place in the overall standings, and for that, I will focus solely on sporting issues and work with my technicians to find the best set-up of the bike. Finally, I want to express my strong desire to amicably resolve all the problems with the team, and to be able to concentrate on riding, which is what I really like.”
