Maverick Vinales withdraws from COTA MotoGP following Jerez tragedy

Aprilia has announced that Maverick Vinales will not compete in this weekend's Americas MotoGP, following the death of his cousin Dean Berta Vinales in last Saturday's WorldSSP300 race at Jerez.

Dean Berta Vinales, who was just 15 and riding for a team run by Maverick's father, died when he fell and was hit by following riders.

Maverick travelled to the track to pay his respects to Dean Berta during a minute's silence on Sunday morning.

An Aprilia statement explained that not enough time has passed since the tradegy and that Vinales, with the support of his team, has 'therefore decided to take a break...There will be other times and other rounds to resume the promising journey begun together':

'Maverick Vinales will not be on the starting grid for the GP of the Americas scheduled this weekend on the circuit in Austin, Texas.

'Less than a week has passed since the accident involving Dean Berta Viñales, Maverick’s young cousin, which is not enough time to regain the serenity needed to race. Maverick, with the full and unconditional support of Aprilia Racing, has therefore decided to take a break on his journey of getting to know the bike and team from Noale.

'The entire Aprilia Racing family supports this decision and stands with Maverick and his loved ones. There will be other times and other rounds to resume the promising journey begun together. A journey that must be entirely respectful of the people involved and their feelings.'

COTA will be the second MotoGP event that Vinales has missed this season after being suspended by Yamaha in Austria.

The Spaniard subsequently split from the Japanese factory and was free to make an immediate switch to Aprilia, where he has finished 18th and 13th in his opening races on the RS-GP, followed by eighth at the Misano test.

Three rounds remain after COTA, starting with the second Misano event on October 22-24.

It is yet to be confirmed if Aprilia will now run test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who stepped back from racing following the mid-season arrival of Vinales, alongside Aleix Espargaro in Austin.

UPDATE: Aleix Espargaro will ride alone in Texas.