Viñales makes shock exit

He's one of the biggest stars among Spain's motorcycle riders, with an abundance of talent and character. But Maverick Viñales has decided to say goodbye to this year's championship, despite the fact that mathematically, he still has a chance of taking the title. The 17-year-old announced on Friday that he was leaving both his team and his management, blaming their lack of professionalism as well as the fact that he has not, in his opinion, been given a competitive bike.

The young rider met with his managers and sporting directors, Ricard Jové and Raúl Romero, on Thursday night. He wanted to finish out the year with the Avintia Blusens team, but asked to be immediately released. Viñales, who claims that offers from other teams were kept secret from him, signed up for two more seasons just a few weeks ago. As such, the team refused to comply with his request. So on Friday, he decided that he wouldn't even be donning his leathers ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, telling the organizers of the championship that he was headed home.

"We don't think they've been putting in the maximum since the middle of the season," he said on Friday. "Everything's been going from bad to worse. I wanted to finish this year, but they've done this with bad intentions, so I'm going to do the same to them. All I can do now is train for next year, if there's a chance I can return to the world championship."

Viñales, who is currently ranked second in the Moto3 championship, offered further explanations for his unhappiness. "We've lost the championship because of the team, not because of me," he said. "I finished second in Japan and it felt as if I had fallen and hadn't finished the race; at no time did I have a chance to fight for the win. I just want to be in a winning team, and have that team give the maximum for me, and that's not the case. When we arrived in Malaysia they started saying that it was me who wasn't pushing the bike. This is a second-class team. That's all there is to it."

Viñales was European and Spanish 125cc champion in 2010, before moving up to the world championship in 2011, also in the 125cc category (now known as Moto3).

This season he has won five races, finishing second in two and racking up five pole positions. He is currently on 199 points, 56 below the leader, Sandro Cortese. Including this weekend's race in Sepang, there are three grands prix left to run.

Viñales has no doubt that the disagreement will end up in court.

"That's what happens when you rebel against your team," he said. "We wanted to sort all this out, but it wasn't to be."

Jové and Romero, meanwhile, have other ideas. "All contracts have cancellation clauses that can be sorted out if both sides want to," Jové said Friday. "But what you can't do is ignore your commitments and think that you can tear up your contract in just a couple of hours. [...] He should get on the bike and do his job. If he goes home, it will be a unilateral decision. The bike is ready."