Tech3 MotoGP team boss Guenther Steiner has all but ruled out both Maverick Vinales and Brad Binder from riding for the team in 2027.
Both incumbent KTM-contracted Tech3 rider Vinales and KTM factory rider Binder have long been viewed as prime candidates to ride for Tech3 next year, but Steiner has now confirmed that he will favour signings without the 'baggage' of prior KTM association.
He said he "cannot have an opinion" on the sensational remarks Vinales had made about his '27 contract dealings with KTM on Thursday, as "I don't know his contract, I've never seen it" and so "I'm happily keeping out of it, I've got enough on my plate".
He did confirm, however, that Tech3's 2027 riders will now be contracted directly to the team rather than bike supplier KTM.
"In future, going forwards, we go our own way," he said, confirming that this decision was taken also to have greater influence on the team's rider line-up.
"That's a part of it!" he added, "Obviously, you know there is a good saying in German, 'wer bezahlt, schafft an' [who pays, decides]."
Asked whether he could rule out Vinales, Steiner said: "Somehow, I think, with the situation that we just discussed, it's very difficult to fix that situation. It's not a good situation - if you go in the press against each other.
"We are still working with KTM in the future, I don't think he feels happy in the [KTM] stable."
Steiner was also able to confirm the impending exit of Vinales's team-mate Enea Bastianini, who is expected to be announced as a Trackhouse Aprilia rider - and whose mind, Steiner indicated, was just too set on leaving the KTM fold.
"We were too late to the party, as Tech3," Steiner said."I actually had a sitdown with his father, because I get on with these guys very well - it's more of their decision than mine."
Asked about Binder as a candidate, Steiner said: "Again, there's a long history there - and somehow, sometimes you need to start afresh, not to carry too much over.
"We speak all about these difficult situations, and in the end we need to be a happy team going forward. We don't want any, what do you call it, old baggage.
"We want to start afresh and therefore, maybe it doesn't fit in, people that were associated with the group - not only with Tech3 and KTM, but with the group - for too long. Because you always go back to how it was in the old days. Sometimes you need a fresh start."
Who will join the team?
Steiner said that a decision on the line-up has not been taken yet but that it should come "hopefully soon" - as "we then need crew chiefs and all that good stuff".
It is known that Steiner's preference is a line-up featuring a rookie and a veteran, and he reiterated that Intact GP Moto2 duo - Manu Gonzalez and Senna Agius - are the two primary 'rookie' options.
"They are my candidates. If you know somebody else, maybe it would make my decision easier! But I think you all know the two Intact riders, they're both very good.
"I don't think there are any big cons to either of them - but who has more pluses at this point?"
But Steiner made it clear he is not interested in an all-rookie line-up when asked by The Race.
Of the veteran options, Luca Marini - who seemingly wasn't on the radar earlier in the season - has increasingly been touted as the favourite.
"I spoke with quite a few riders because I want to get to know them, if they join the team, because you not only get a guy who rides the bike, you get a person who needs to be part of the team and they need to fit in also.
"So I met with a few people. I didn't know Luca before - and I think he's a very pleasant guy. And obviously he's got lots of experience and maybe he can help us get better - but we have not made the final decision, just to be clear about that one.
"But as a human being and as a rider - you know as much as me, how he is at riding - but could he be an asset to the team? Maybe yes."
from The Race https://ift.tt/PSIrEBL
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