Going without a grand prix win since the start of the 2021 season prior to his acrimonious split with Yamaha, Vinales won the sprints in Portugal and Austin.
Despite being dropped to 11th from pole on the opening lap of Sunday’s 20-lap Americas GP, Vinales fought his way back to take victory by 1.728s to become the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to take grand prix victories for three different manufacturers.
Vinales beat Tech3 rookie sensation Pedro Acosta, celebrating his best MotoGP result, while Enea Bastianini denied championship leader Jorge Martin a podium with a late overtake.
Francesco Bagnaia was fifth after a tricky race, while seven-time COTA winner Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead on lap 11.
Acosta shot into the lead from second on the grid as poleman Vinales found himself dumped back to 11th in the Turn 1 melee.
An aggressive move for Martin to get up to third from sixth saw him force Bagnaia to sit up at Turn 1, nudging into Vinales and sending the Aprilia rider down the order.
Through the opening sequence of corners, Martin got himself into second behind Acosta and ahead of Bagnaia.
Source: Autosport