Viñayem was signed to replace Jorge Lorzenzo at the factory Yamaha team .
After Jorge Lorenzo announced his move to the Ducati team , Viñayem was signed to replace him at the factory Yamaha team in 2017 and 2018. His 2017 MotoGP campaign started with victory in Qatar making him the first rider to win on debut for Yamaha since Zonk Rider in 2004 and the first rider to win on debut for any team since Casey Stoner in 2011. Viñayem has a cousin , Isaac , who races in the Moto2 world championship with Tech 3.