Motorsport.com reported on Sunday morning that Vinales was considering quitting Yamaha at the end of the season and take up a ride with Aprilia for 2022 as the relationship between the Spaniard and his team has hit rock bottom.

Vinales was signed by Yamaha in 2017 to replace Ducati-bound Jorge Lorenzo and won three of his first five races on the M1. But since then, his form on the Yamaha has been inconsistent as the bike itself has also had mixed form.

After winning on the opening night of the 2021 campaign in Qatar, Vinales wouldn’t score a podium again until last Sunday’s Dutch TT at Assen while teammate Fabio Quartararo won four times and currently holds a 34-point lead in the championship.

Yamaha tried to arrest Vinales’ decline by swapping crew chief Esteban Garcia for ex-Valentino Rossi ally Silvano Galbusera at Barcelona, though this seems to have only added to the tensions between both parties as Garcia is a close friend of Vinales.

Suffering his worst ever MotoGP weekend in Germany, qualifying 21st and finishing the race last, Vinales slammed Yamaha’s response to his woes in 2021 – and seemingly in recent years – as disrespectful.

Vinales denied links to Aprilia after the Assen race but admitted leaving Yamaha was “an option” for him.

On Monday morning, following an Assen weekend in which he was on pole and second in the race, Yamaha announced both parties have agreed to part ways at the end of 2021 following Vinales' request to terminate the contract.

Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis expressed sadness at the decision but has vowed Yamaha will "give full support" to Vinales for the remainder of 2021.

"It is with sadness that we will say farewell to Maverick at the end of the year," said Jarvis. "We are in the middle of our fifth season together and over the years we have achieved many highs but also had to manage many lows.

"After the German GP, which was the most difficult weekend of our partnership, we had important discussions in Assen and came to the conclusion that it would be in the interest of both parties to go our separate ways in the future.

"Yamaha will put in their maximum effort – as we always have done – to give full support to Maverick and finish this season in the very best way possible."

Vinales himself added: "This partnership has been very significant to me over the last five years, and it proved a difficult decision to part ways. In these seasons together, we experienced both great achievements and tough times.

"However, the underlying feeling is of mutual respect and appreciation. I am fully committed and will strive to achieve the best results for the rest of the season."

Aprilia denied on Sunday that it had held discussions with Vinales, but was open to the idea of the nine-time MotoGP race winner joining the Italian brand in 2022.

Yamaha will potentially have two bikes up for grabs in 2022 now, with the seat alongside Fabio Quartararo needing to be filled, while Valentino Rossi’s likely retirement frees up an M1 at Petronas SRT.

The logical replacement for Vinales would be 2020 championship runner-up Franco Morbidelli, who is currently out injured following surgery on his knee last week.

Morbidelli does have a contract with SRT for 2022, but it is thought he has an escape clause which can be triggered should a factory team offer him a deal.

Ex-MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa is set to make his racing comeback in September’s San Marino Grand Prix as a wildcard for KTM, Autosport has learned.

Pedrosa made his MotoGP debut in 2006 with Honda and raced his entire premier class career with the Japanese marque, winning 36 races and finishing runner-up in the standings on three occasions.

The double 250cc world champion and one-time 125cc title winner retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2018 season and took up a role as KTM’s official test rider.

Pedrosa’s work as test rider has been instrumental in propelling KTM to the front of the grid in MotoGP, with his efforts baring fruit last year.

Brad Binder took KTM’s first ever MotoGP win at the Czech Grand Prix in 2020 just three races into his rookie season, before Miguel Oliveira added a second to its tally at the Styrian GP.

Oliveira sealed KTM’s third win in the season finale in Portugal and took its fourth in this year’s Catalan GP.

KTM is yet to confirm Pedrosa’s Misano wildcard, but has been hinting at it for some time.

As well as Pedrosa, two other wildcards are set to start the San Marino GP, with Honda fielding its test rider Stefan Bradl and Ducati giving Michele Pirro an outing on home soil.

Wildcards have been reinstated for the 2021 season after they were scrapped in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

KTM’s 2021 season has been a mixed affair, with Oliveira and team-mate Brad Binder struggling in the early races – its issues largely a result of the softer front tyre allocation Michelin has brought to 2021.

But a new chassis introduced for the Italian GP at Mugello, which offered better corner-exit performance and improved the RC16’s front-end issues, with Oliveira – who couldn’t break into the top 10 in the first five rounds – finishing second at Mugello.

Winning at Barcelona, Oliveira was second again last time out in Germany while Binder recovered from 13th to take his best result of the season in fourth.

Both Binder and Oliveira will remain with the factory KTM squad in 2022, with the former recently signing a new three-year deal to keep him at the marque through to 2024.

At Tech3, Moto2 championship leader Remy Gardner will step up while the second seat remains up for grabs.

Gardner’s Moto2 team-mate Raul Fernandez had been linked to it, but KTM Motorsport boss Pit Beirer told Autosport last week that the Spaniard had expressed a desire to remain in Moto2 for one more season.

Retired three-time grand prix motorcycle world champion Dani Pedrosa will make his MotoGP comeback as a KTM wildcard in August’s Styrian Grand Prix.

The double 250cc and one-time 125cc world champion retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2018 season after a 13-year stint in the premier class with Honda.

Upon his retirement from racing, Pedrosa took up a role as an official test rider for KTM and has remained with the Austrian marque ever since.

Until recently, the 31-time MotoGP race winner had little interest in contesting any wildcards with KTM, though last month it was reported he was eyeing a grand prix return – however, at the time it was believed to be at Misano.

KTM has now confirmed he will join regular factory KTM riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, and the Tech3 KTMs of Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona at the Red Bull Ring in August for the Styrian GP.

The Austrian marque has also confirmed Pedrosa will ride "an adapted development version" of the RC16.

"It's been super-interesting to be part of this project from the beginning with KTM in MotoGP and being able to share my experience with them," Pedrosa said.

"Step-by-step we did the best we could and now it's interesting again to go into a race because it gives you a different perspective compared to a normal test.

"It has been a long time since my last race and, of course, the mentality for a GP is very different to a test.

"My focus for the GP is to try to test the things we have on the bike in a race situation.

"I wish to understand the requests riders might have for different sessions and technical features.

"Watching from home I can sense the improvements in the bikes and the racing but in order to understand more about MotoGP now, the new technologies and how to race and use strategies against the others we'll make this wildcard.

"It's difficult to talk about my expectations after being so long away from competition.

"It might all click into a racing mentality or it might not but we'll try to enjoy the weekend as much as we can."

KTM has not said whether Pedrosa will remain on the bike for a second wildcard outing in the following weekend's Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring.

Pedrosa may not be the only retired MotoGP star to make a comeback in Austria next month.

Petronas SRT has confirmed Franco Morbidelli – who underwent knee surgery last month – will be out of action until September's San Marino GP, with Pedrosa's former Honda stablemate Cal Crutchlow expected to take control of the 'A-spec' Yamaha in Morbidelli's absence.

Earlier this month the Australian MotoGP round at Phillip Island was struck from the 2021 schedule, effectively replaced by a second Portimao race penned in for the November 5-7, with the calendar tweaks resulting in the Malaysian GP being moved to run one week after the Thai round as the remaining rounds on the Asian flyaway stretch.

But it has been confirmed the Thailand GP, scheduled for the October 15-17, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

MotoGP officials have confirmed a replacement event is being assessed with an updated 2021 race calendar due to be published “as soon as possible.”

“The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports regret to announce the cancellation of the OR Thailand Grand Prix, which was set to take place at Chang International Circuit from the 15th to the 17th of October,” a MotoGP statement read.

“Despite the best efforts of all parties involved, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions have obliged the cancellation of the event.

"The FIM MotoGP World Championship looks forward to returning to race in front of the incredibly passionate Buriram crowd in 2022.

“A replacement event is currently under consideration and any updates regarding a possible substitute will be published as soon as available.”

The Thailand GP cancellation opens up a three-week gap in the 2021 MotoGP calendar between the rescheduled United States round at the Circuit of the Americas (October 1-3) and the Malaysian round at Sepang (October 22-24).

MotoGP may look to run another double-header, having started this season with back-to-back races in Qatar, while the summer break resumes with two consecutive Austrian races at the Red Bull Ring.

The Argentinean round also remains without a new date after its initial postponement, but the South American event looks likely to be cancelled for 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

So far this year, the Finnish, Japanese and Australian MotoGP races have been officially cancelled from the 2021 calendar.

Reigning MotoGP champion team Suzuki will finally join all its rivals in running a ‘holeshot device’ when the championship resumes after its summer break in Austria this weekend.

Pioneered by Ducati at the end of 2018, the devices lock the suspension to control the rear ride height, meaning power isn’t wasted compressing the fork.

Its first use was on the front suspension to assist with race starts, but Ducati later added a version to its rear suspension that could be used to improve power delivery on corner exits all around the circuits.

The system was steadily copied by the majority of the other factory teams, but Suzuki had not introduced its own until now.

Suzuki revealed the news in its in-house magazine, with the team’s technical manager Ken Kawauchi saying the summer break had created an opportunity to get the upgrade sorted at last.

“Overall we have a very balanced bike, it’s something that we have deliberately strived for throughout the development of the GSX-RR,” he said.

“We know that if you improve one area you might lose in another, so we’ve always tried to make a very well-rounded machine which performs well at most circuits.

“Although we are satisfied with our 2021 bike, there are always improvements to be made, and we believe the introduction of the squatting device will help our riders to progress.

“Being in such a demanding sport means that we are constantly called upon to develop new solutions that suit our machine. The important thing is to keep the momentum; I believe that ‘constant development in the right direction’ is a winning philosophy in such a competitive championship.

“This long break in July allows us to make an in-depth analysis of where we are and implement new solutions that will hopefully be effective for the second half of the season.”

After its shock run to the riders’ title with Joan Mir and also the teams’ championship in 2020, Suzuki has had a low-key title defence so far.

It has yet to win a race in 2021, Mir is 55 points behind leader Fabio Quartararo and sitting fourth in the riders’ championship, the team is fourth in the manufacturers’ and only fifth in the teams’ standings.

Suzuki’s cause has been hampered by a string of errors from Mir’s team-mate Alex Rins that culminated in an injury absence caused when he crashed his bicycle while reading a message on his phone.

But it has also lacked the pace to challenge regular frontrunners Yamaha and Ducati, especially in qualifying – where it was already weak throughout its championship-winning season.

Rins estimated before the break that the absence of the holeshot device was costing Suzuki 0.2-0.3s per lap, while Mir said “We have to work to have the device as soon as possible so that we can start working with the same tools as the others”.

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi looks set to announce his retirement from the sport imminently.

An exceptional press conference has been scheduled for this afternoon at the Styrian Grand Prix.

The Petronas Yamaha rider has already said that a decision on his future would be made during MotoGP’s summer break, which ends today at the Red Bull Ring, and the unusual step of announcing an exceptional press conference means that it seems that decision has been made.

While there has been speculation in recent weeks that he will join his own VR46 Ducati team for 2022 instead of stepping down after 26 seasons of grand prix racing, The Race’s sources in the MotoGP paddock believe that the news will instead be a retirement announcement.

That fits with this morning’s late announcement that the exceptional press conference will be hosted not by Rossi’s Petronas Yamaha team or by his own representatives but by series promoter Dorna.

The special addition to the schedule will get underway at 1615 local time (1515 UK time).

Rossi is expected to race a Ferrari in the 2022 World Endurance Championship as well as running his MotoGP team.

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has announced the 2021 season will be his last after confirming his retirement from motorcycle racing on Thursday in Austria.

Spanning 26 seasons, Rossi is one of the most decorated competitors in world motorsport, the Italian winning a record-equalling seven premier class title and nine overall across MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc.

From 414 starts, Rossi has taken 115 grand prix victories, with 89 of those coming in the premier class, while his total podium haul stands at 235 as of the 2021 Dutch TT.

After losing his factory Yamaha slot for 2021, Rossi elected to continue his career into this season with backing from Yamaha at Petronas SRT – but the campaign has so far been his worst ever, the Italian scoring just 19 points from the first nine races.

As a result, retirement has looked a certainty since the summer break – though the possibility of him racing his own VR46 Ducati in 2022 did appear, after it emerged the title sponsorship between the team and Saudi oil giant Aramco doesn't exist.

On Thursday at the Styrian GP – at the venue where Rossi took his first grand prix podium in the 125cc class back in 1996 – the Italian legend announced his retirement from MotoGP.

"Ciao to everybody, I feel a bit moved. Embarrassing here, I need a table minimum," he said.

"I said during the season I'd take my decision for next year after the summer break. I decided to stop at the end of the season so unfortunately this will be the last season as a MotoGP rider.

"It's difficult, it's a very sad moment because it's difficult to say and to know that next year I will not race with motorcycles. I've done this for more or less 30 years so next year my life will change after some point of view.

"But anyway, it was great, I enjoyed it very much, it's a long, long journey and it was really, really fun.

"It's 25 or 26 years in the world championship. It was great and I had an unforgettable moment with all my team, with all the guys that work for me.

"So I don't have a lot to say, just this."

The 41-year-old made his grand prix debut in the 125cc class in 1996 and was champion in the division the following year before stepping up to the 250cc class in 1998 and winning the title in 1999.

For 2000 Rossi was signed by Honda to a factory-backed satellite NSR500 and dominated the 2001 campaign to win the first of his seven premier class titles.

For the new four-stroke MotoGP era in 2002 Rossi rode for the Repsol Honda team, winning the title in 2002 and 2003 before making a shock switch to Yamaha for 2004 after his relationship with HRC soured.

Yamaha hadn't won a grand prix throughout 2003, but Rossi took the revamped M1 to victory in his first race on the bike in South Africa after a duel with Max Biaggi and would go on to win the title.

Rossi was champion again in 2005, but difficult campaigns in 2006 and 2007 saw him cede the title to Honda's Nicky Hayden and Ducati's Casey Stoner.

Rossi added two more titles to his tally in 2008 and 2009, but the tide was turning at Yamaha and the arrival of Jorge Lorenzo in 2008 led to escalating tensions.

The Italian's 2010 title hopes vanished when he broke his leg during practice for the Italian GP, with Lorenzo going on to win the championship.

Rossi made a big-money move to Ducati for 2011, but scored just three podiums across disastrous 2011/2012 campaigns and returned to Yamaha in 2013.

Returning to winning ways at Assen that year, Rossi won twice in 2014 and was runner-up in the championship before mounting a charge for the 2015 title in a bitter battle with Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

After accusing Marc Marquez of conspiring with Lorenzo to sabotage his title hopes in Australia, Rossi's championship aspirations fell apart in Malaysia when a controversial incident with Marquez netted him a back-of-the-grid start for the Valencia finale.

Rossi fought through to fourth but Lorenzo was crowned champion. This marked a turning point in Rossi's career, his tally of wins shrinking from four in 2015 to just two in 2016 and one in 2017.

And since the 2017 Dutch TT, Rossi has been winless in MotoGP, while his podium haul shrunk from five in 2018 to two in 2019, one in 2020 and so far none this season.

Rossi's larger-than-life personality and his famous rivalries with the likes of Biaggi, Sete Gibernau, Casey Stoner and Lorenzo, helped propel MotoGP into the mainstream.

The Italian's legacy will live on through his VR46 Riders Academy, which has helped rear young Italian talent, and his VR46 team – which will make its MotoGP debut in 2022.

Having famously flirted with a switch to Formula 1 in the 2000s and taken part in a number of car events, Rossi has previously expressed a desire to race GT3 machinery after his MotoGP career and potentially compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Valentino Rossi “thought deeply” about racing with his own VR46 MotoGP team in 2022 but felt the “risk” was too great for just one season, which helped his retirement decision.

On Thursday ahead of the Styrian Grand Prix, Rossi announced the 2021 season – his 26th grand prix world championship campaign – would be his last having elected to retire at the end of the year.

Over the summer break the possibility for Rossi to race with his own VR46 team on a Ducati in 2022 emerged after it transpired that the Aramco title sponsorship of the outfit did not exist – and therefore Rossi would need to pilot one of the Desmosedicis in order to secure backing for the team.

While uncertainty still surrounds the Aramco/VR46 deal, Rossi ultimately decided to call time on his racing career.

He feels the VR46 Ducati project is a good option, but believes he needs a couple of seasons at least to adapt to the Ducati – having famously struggled in 2011-2012 with the Italian marque – and felt “there is more risk” in the move if it was just for one season.

“I have an offer also from my team for next year,” Rossi said.

“An official offer! I think deeply to continue because I would have liked to have raced for my team and have my bikes in Tavullia with the team there.

“I think that we have a great Moto3 and Moto2 team there with a lot of people that I have known there for a long time.

“For example, I have some mechanics that have worked with me on the 250cc so in 1998 and 1999.

“So, it would have been fascinating to race with my team but at the end I decided not to for some different reasons; I would have had to change bike, I think that it was a good project if you have two or three years but if you have just one season maybe there is more risk than the good things.

“So that is why I decided not to.”

Rossi admits he is “not happy” to be retiring from MotoGP given his passion for motorcycle racing, but feels he was ready for the decision now.

“Two years ago and also last year I was not ready to stop with MotoGP because I had to understand and try everything, but now I am OK, I am quiet,” he added.

“I am not happy for sure but if I make another year, next year, I would not be happy in the same moment because I want to race for another 20 years!

“I think this is the right moment.

“We have another half of a season where I will try to be stronger than in the first half and I will try to give my best but I think it is the right choice.”

In the closing stages of the Catalan Grand Prix in June, Yamaha rider Quartararo’s leather race suit came completely unzipped and he was forced to discard his chest protector.

He continued to the chequered flag despite the issue and was later handed a three-second penalty, which dropped him to sixth, having already been demoted from third to fourth with for a track limits violation.

Rules stipulate that all rider equipment must be fastened when on track, but were vague regarding what must be done if something happens to it and what penalty this would incur.

From this weekend’s Austrian GP, MotoGP Race Direction will now be able to send riders dashboard messages informing them to fix any equipment problems.

MotoGP race director Mike Webb explained that the current technical issue warning wasn’t appropriate for a rider equipment issue, hence the new type of message.

"In the case of a problem or fastening undone on rider equipment, or something that’s not immediately a problem but needs to be fixed, it’s a different situation,” he said.

“So we have a new signal on the dashboard, it shows ‘equipment’ on the rider dashboard and the meaning has been explained to the riders and teams: there is a problem with your equipment and you’re required to fix it immediately.

“If that means coming into the pits to fix it, OK.

“Or if you can fix it yourself on track, that’s also OK.

“What we require is that you fix it immediately, so there’s a new message about rider equipment.”

Race Direction will also be able to send warnings to riders over their behaviour on-track, upon request from the stewards.

This is to help the stewards distinguish whether a “borderline” action on track was simply a mistake, with repeats of the action to be deemed as not a misjudgement and will incur a penalty.

Webb also says the new messages have only just come into operation because they “take a bit of lead time” as the dashboard manufacturers and timekeeping companies have to update their systems for them to be used.

The Red Bull Ring has revealed the designs of its revised layout for MotoGP from 2022, which will now feature a chicane at the current Turn 2 to improve safety.

Safety at the Austrian venue for MotoGP has been called into question over the past year following three-successive races being red-flagged for serious incidents - the latest coming last weekend when Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo Savadori were involved in a fiery crash on the exit of Turn 3.

The biggest incident happened at the current Turn 2 left kink, which runs up to the right Turn 3, when in last year’s Austrian Grand Prix Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli collided at 200mph.

Both riders’ bikes then flew up hill and narrowly avoided hitting Yamaha duo Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi in a terrifying scene.

To stop a repeat a barrier was put in place that runs along the outside of Turn 3, while major safety improvements were put under discussion for 2022.

On Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Austrian GP, the Red Bull Ring unveiled the designs of its revised layout that will be used by MotoGP from next year.

Riders will exit Turn 1 as normal and carry on towards the Turn 2 kink, where from 2022 they will brake and go right, then left through a chicane before continuing up to Turn 3.

The new layout is aimed to reduce the approach speed to Turn 3 and stop any major incidents from occurring again, like the Zarco/Morbidelli one from 2020. Construction on the new layout will begin in November of this year.

Formula 1 will continue to use the current layout going forward, though the revision has been designed in conjunction with the FIA and MotoGP’s governing body the FIM.

A statement from the Red Bull Ring read: “The Red Bull Ring has hosted Formula 1 since 2014 and the Motorcycle World Championship since 2016.

“Since then, hundreds of thousands of fans have experienced numerous great race weekends at the Spielberg.

“In order to further improve the attractiveness and safety of the Austrian Grand Prix circuit, a chicane will be built in the area of the second turn in coordination with the FIA and the Formula One Group as well as the FIM, Dorna and AMF.

“The necessary construction work will start in November and continue over the winter so that the Red Bull Ring can start the 2022 season with the new track layout for two-wheel racing series.”

Yamaha announced on the Monday following the Dutch TT at Assen in June that it – upon request from Vinales – had agreed to part ways with the nine-time MotoGP race winner at the end of this season, one year earlier than his current contract was due to expire.

Vinales joined Yamaha from Suzuki in 2017 and has had a fragmented tenure with the Japanese marque, with the relationship between the pair irreparably souring in recent weeks as his form since winning the Qatar GP has been mixed.

The relationship between Yamaha and Vinales reached its nadir last week, when the manufacturer suspended him and withdrew him from the Austrian GP for trying to blow up his engine during the Styrian GP.

Vinales later apologised for this, blaming his actions on frustration at his situation during the race and in general at Yamaha.

It’s unclear yet whether Vinales will race again in 2021 with Yamaha.

Reports during the Dutch TT weekend linked Vinales with a move to Aprilia, though both he and the Italian marque denied this at the time.

However, Aprilia has now confirmed Vinales’ appointment on a one-year deal with an option to renew, the nine-time MotoGP race winner replacing rookie Lorenzo Savadori next year.

"We are extremely happy to announce that we have signed Maverick Vinales, a very high-level rider and one of the purest talents in the premier category," Massimo Rivola, Aprilia Racing CEO, said.

"Our project has now been enriched with the value that Maverick brings - a world champion who has confirmed his talent as a top rider in MotoGP - at a time of great change, after bringing a completely revamped bike to the track and having consistently established ourselves in the group of protagonists, we are also facing a switch in status as a factory team now, in order to take Aprilia to success.

"We are honoured to be able to make all of our best skills available to Vinales along with our enthusiasm and our passion. I am confident that, like Aleix, he will embrace this extremely high-potential project.

"The arrival of Maverick in no way distances Lorenzo Savadori from the team, as he will remain an integral part of the Aprilia Racing family."

Vinales will join Aleix Espargaro next year, with the pair previously team-mates at Suzuki in its first two seasons of its MotoGP return in 2015 and 2016.

The Spaniard’s move to secure the second RS-GP ends hopes of Andrea Dovizioso joining the marque in 2022.

Dovizioso has become Aprilia’s test rider in 2021 having turned down a race ride for this season at the end of 2020, prompting him to take a sabbatical with a view to a full-time MotoGP return in 2022.

All doors back onto the MotoGP grid in 2022 now look closed for Dovizioso.

Franco Morbidelli is set to step up from Petronas SRT to take Vinales’ place at the factory Yamaha squad.

With title sponsor Petronas ending its association with SRT at the end of 2021, SRT’s options are also slender, with its Moto3 rider Darryn Binder set to make the leap directly to MotoGP with the outfit, while the likes of Jake Dixon and Xavi Vierge have also been linked to moves.

It’s understood SRT’s deal with Yamaha has also been renegotiated so that it will only have ‘B-spec’ Yamahas in 2022.

Valentino Rossi protégé Marco Bezzecchi had also been linked to an SRT seat, but now looks set to step up to MotoGP with VR46 Ducati next year, while SRT’s first option Raul Fernandez has been locked into a two-year contract with KTM and Tech3.