Monster Yamaha have withdrawn Maverick Vinales from this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP round, alleging he has been operating his M1 in a ‘irregular manner’ and suspended him from the team.

A statement reads:

Yamaha regrets to announce that Maverick Viñales’ entry to this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP event has been withdrawn by the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team.

The absence follows the suspension of the rider by Yamaha due to the unexplained irregular operation of the motorcycle by the rider during last weekend’s Styria MotoGP race.

Yamaha’s decision follows an in-depth analysis of telemetry and data over the last days.

Yamaha’s conclusion is that the rider’s actions could have potentially caused significant damage to the engine of his YZR-M1 bike which could have caused serious risks to the rider himself and possibly posed a danger to all other riders in the MotoGP race.

The rider will not be replaced at the Austrian GP.

Decisions regarding the future races will be taken after a more detailed analysis of the situation and further discussions between Yamaha and the rider.

With rumours circulating throughout Thursday as to the underlying story, multiple sources claimed the 26-year-old had been over-revving his M1 in the latter stages of the 27-lap restarted race, including on entry to the pitlane as he retired the machine from 19th, in a bid to blow the engine.

Whatever the truth, the rift between the Japanese manufacturer and the Spaniard’s wider family looks to run deep.

WorldSBK announced on Tuesday that the Viñales Racing Team, run by Viñales’ father, Angel, had split from Yamaha after running two YZF-R3’s - for Kevin Sabatucci and Dean Berta Viñales - in the WorldSSP300, with the team confirming the decision on Facebook.

“It's official: Viñales Racing Team won't continue with Yamaha,” the post read.

“The rookie team in the WorldSSP300 category has decided, unilaterally, to break the deal with Yamaha Racing. At the moment, there is no confirmation according to another factory so updates will be reported in the coming weeks.”