Valentino Rossi’s VR46 squad made its MotoGP premier class debut in 2022 after agreeing a take care of Ducati for one factory-specification bike that went to Luca Marini, and a year-old bike that went to Marco Bezzecchi.
Motorsport.com understands that VR46 has the choice to resume with Ducati for 2025 and 2026, with the choice set to run out on the finish of Might, however the workforce must accept two year-old Desmosedici bikes for its riders.
Regardless of having maintained contacts with KTM, the clearest various has at all times been Yamaha, given Rossi’s historic connection to the Japanese producer.
However this chance, which was by no means fully dominated out, has been shedding power in current weeks, to the purpose that VR46 and Ducati look set to reaffirm their alliance, with an extension that would even be introduced this weekend on the American MotoGP spherical in Austin.
“Yamaha is my second residence. However, to start with, what it ought to supply us is a extra aggressive bike. The Ducati is a superb bike and its efficiency may be very excessive. We owe it to our companions. Change is just not straightforward,” Salucci mentioned, chatting with Motorsport.com.
Uccio Salucci, VR46 Racing Workforce
Photograph by: Media VR46
If VR46 sticks with Ducati, the strain would shift to Yamaha, because it has been attempting to ascertain a satellite tv for pc workforce ever since its partnership ended with the RNF squad on the finish of 2022.
However with Yamaha’s top-speed weak point nonetheless apparent, it’s believed its greatest method to safe a second squad alongside the manufacturing unit workforce was to offer a monetary bundle to help a satellite tv for pc squad.
Nevertheless, to date this hasn’t been sufficiently engaging to a workforce like VR46 which picked up three MotoGP wins in 2023, all with Bezzecchi in Argentina, France and India, plus a number of podiums throughout each its riders.
VR46 has additionally been capable of safe better sponsorship backing, having taken on Indonesian state-owned vitality firm Pertamina as title sponsor from this season.
Rossi’s squad has a perfect situation in thoughts: keep on with Ducati however regain a factory-spec bike for 2025. However the present hurdle to that’s Ducati’s plan to offer solely 4 of these bikes (two to the manufacturing unit workforce and two to the Pramac squad), and that set-up would require Pramac boss Paolo Campinoti to voluntarily quit certainly one of its manufacturing unit bikes for 2025.
Whereas this situation appears unlikely, Salucci isn’t giving up: “Pramac is Ducati’s reference satellite tv for pc workforce. VR46 doesn’t search that standing. What we wish is to develop and have an official bike subsequent 12 months.”
