Maverick Viñales has kicked off the latest chapter of his MotoGP career as he made his Aprilia debut at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this morning.

After the drama of Styria, Maverick Viñales and Yamaha Motor parted ways following an incident in which Viñales attempted to blow the M1’s inline-four engine to pieces. Since then, the Moto3 World Champion has been the centre of attention, with rumours pointing to the Spaniard joining Aprilia.

The announcement of the new partnership came within days after Viñales split with Yamaha and immediately a debut was pencilled into the calendar – a two-day test in Misano on August 31st and September 1st.

This morning, the number 12 was sported across the RS-GP machine, which has just finished on the MotoGP podium for the first time in their history in the hands of Aleix Espargaro at the BritishGP.

Viñales joins a fleet of riders at the 2.63-mile circuit on the Adriatic Coast with the expectation that the 26-year-old will race there in the coming weeks – ahead of making his full-time debut in Qatar 2022. Joining the Spanish rider is Michele Pirro (Ducati) Mika Kalio and Dani Pedrosa (KTM) Stefan Bradl (Honda HRC) VR46 academy riders Luca Marini and Francesco Bagnaia, along with Johann Zarco – all riding road spec V4 Ducatis.

Check out some images below of Viñales’ debut with the Noale manufacturer.