Source: Supplied.

Spanish talent Maverick Vinales is first in line to replace Ducati-bound MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo from 2017, in discussions with Movistar Yamaha to join Valentino Rossi in the factory squad.

Vinales has starred with Team Suzuki on board the official GSX-RR so far in 2016, becoming a prime candidate to fill the shoes of Lorenzo in the high profile Yamaha team. He spoke about it on Thursday at Jerez.

“I feel really good,” 21-year-old Vinales said. “When two big factories like Yamaha and Suzuki want you it means you work really hard and you have enough riding style and can be fast enough to ride those bikes.

“Anyway, right now I’m focused on this grand prix as I think it’s very important for us to achieve our best results in these next races. We have a lot of potential and we need to work harder on the Friday – I think in Austin that if I had a better start it was maybe possible to fight for the podium again.”

Yamaha MotoGP team managing director Lin Jarvis went on to confirm the Japanese giant’s interest in Vinales, however also said that they have additional riders in mind if unable to sway the Spaniard from Suzuki.

“We are looking at some people and Maverick has proven that he’s one of the new future talents of the MotoGP,” Jarvis explained. “I think he has a very good chance to be world champion in the future and he’s an attractive rider. There are other options that we have as well, other riders with different profiles. Things are never as straight forward and simple as they seem.”