Maverick Viñales has decided to pull out of the US Grand Prix at the Circuit Of The America. After attempting to ride in the morning FP1 session, he was in too much pain from the left shoulder he injured in a qualifying crash at the Sachsenring last year, and decided to return home for surgery.
The problem was that a screw inserted to fixate his shoulder fracture has worked its way loose, as the bone around it heals and moves. That is causing him pain and causing him to lose strength in his shoulder. He is to return back to Europe to have the screw removed. Fortunately for Viñales, there are four weeks until the next GP, the Spanish round at Jerez. That should be enough time for him to recover enough fitness to ride again.
The statement from the KTM Tech3 team appears below:
