VR46 Racing Team

VR46 Racing Team

2024 name	MotoGP: Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
Base	Tavullia, Italy
Principal	Owner: Valentino Rossi Team Manager: Pablo Nieto
Rider(s)	MotoGP: 49. Fabio Di Giannantonio 72. Marco Bezzecchi
Motorcycle	MotoGP: Ducati Desmosedici
Tyres	MotoGP: Michelin
Riders' Championships	Moto2: 2018: Francesco Bagnaia
Teams' Championships	Moto2: 2020

The VR46 Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team owned by Valentino Rossi and based in Tavullia (Marche, Italy). The team enters Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the MotoGP category with Ducati motorcycles chassis, under the name Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. The team manager is the former road racer Pablo Nieto.

The team has to date collected 31 race wins (9 in Moto3, 19 in Moto2 and 3 in MotoGP), one riders' championship (with Francesco Bagnaia in Moto2 in 2018), and one teams' championship (Moto2 in 2020).

The team was founded in 2014 by the nine time world champion Valentino Rossi and entered the Moto3 World Championship as Sky Racing Team VR46, with the goal of promoting young Italian talent in response to the massive influx of Spanish riders in Grand Prix racing since the turn of the century. In the team's first year they choose Romano Fenati and Francesco Bagnaia as riders with Rossi's former Cagiva teammate Vittoriano Guareschi as team manager.^[1] It was an up and down season for Fenati, as he scored four podiums in the first six races and ultimately recorded four wins during the season. However, inconsistent results ultimately left him in 5th position in the championship with 176 points. Bagnaia finished top 10 five times during the first seven races with a 4th-place finish at Le Mans as his best result, where he also set the fastest lap of the race. Bagnaia missed the races at Assen and Sachsenring due to injury. After scoring 42 points in the first 7 races of the campaign, Bagnaia slumped badly during the second part of the season, only finishing in the points twice of the last nine races, clearly affected by his injury. He finished the season in 16th position with 50 points.

In 2015, Andrea Migno replaced Bagnaia and Guareschi was replaced by Pablo Nieto, Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci and Carlo Alberto Tebaldi.^[2][3] The 2015 season was also an under-performance for Fenati. Though he maintained some consistency finishing in the top five in eight races – including a victory at Le Mans. Poor qualifying positions for Fenati resulted in the loss of vital points, and he finished the season with 176 points – as he did in 2014 – but placed one position higher in the standings. Migno finished the season in 19th with 35 points.

In 2016, both Fenati and Migno were confirmed and a third bike was given to Nicolò Bulega, but Fenati was fired after ten races and replaced by Lorenzo Dalla Porta. Fenati started the 2016 season with a pole position at Qatar, however he only managed 4th in the race. He finished in 20th in Argentina, before his first win of the season in the United States. He was seventh at Jerez, before a second-place finish at Le Mans, losing out to Brad Binder by 0.099 seconds. Fenati qualified on pole at Mugello, but failed to finish the race. He was fourth in both Catalunya and Netherlands, before a pointless 18 position in Germany. Fenati was dropped by Sky Racing VR46 in Austria as a disciplinary action for a disagreement with Uccio Salucci, team manager and close friend of Rossi. On 16 August, the VR46 team terminated their contract with Romano for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, stating behavioural issues in conflict with team policy as the reason behind the split.

Bulega started the season with sixth place at Qatar. At his fifth race in Moto3, Bulega achieved his first Grand Prix podium at Jerez with 2nd-place finish having started from pole position, which was his first pole position in Grand Prix. Bulega's first fastest lap came at the British Grand Prix in the last lap. Followed by a crash in Aragon, On his birthday Bulega finished the Japanese grand Prix at fourth place and set the fastest lap. But after the third place holder Hiroki Ono was disqualified Bulega was awarded third place. Both in Australia and Malaysia Bulega crashed in the opening lap. His last three crashes in Aragon, Australia and Malaysia was because of the fellow riders. Despite qualifying 4th, Bulega started the final race at Valencia in 16th place due to a twelve-place grid penalty and finished the race in 17th, losing the Rookie of the Year title to Joan Mir. Bulega finished the championship in 7th place with 129 points. Migno achieved two 3rd place finishes (Assen and Valencia) and finished the season in 17th placeoverall with 63 points.

Both Migno and Bulega were retained for the 2017 season. In a year in which previous Rookie of the Year title rival Joan Mir won the Moto3 championship, Bulega struggled to follow up his debut season. Beluga'S difficulties included bad qualifying strategies and poor race starts (his height being a primary factor). His best result on the year was a 4th place finish in Germany, one of the few times he was able to qualify on the top six, and a handful of 5th places, including one in his "home" race in the San Marino race. He finished the disappointing year in just 12th place, with 81 points. Migno won his home Grand Prix in Mugello, and finished the season in 9th place with 118 points.

In 2018, Bulega was initially confirmed (then replaced by Celestino Vietti due to injury) and Dennis Foggia was named as second rider. Bulega's first five 2018 races were even worse than the previous year's. He retired in the first four races and finished only on the fifth race, with a 17th place in Spain, being one of the two regular drivers to never score points in the first five races of the year. Both Vietti and Foggia achieved a third place as best result of the season.

In 2019, Vietti and Foggia were confirmed as regular riders. Vietti achieved three podiums (Spain, Catalonia and Japan), one pole and one fastest lap, finishing the season 6th with 135 points. Foggia reached a third place in Aragon as best result and a fastest lap in Netherland, finishing the season 12th with 97 points.

Andrea Migno returned to the squad to partner Vietti for 2020. With two race wins and four podiums for Vietti and regular points-scoring finishes for Migno, the team finished 3rd in the teams' championship.

The VR46 team left the Moto3 class after 2020, citing 'a lack of Italian talent' available between many Italian Moto3 teams (such as Gresini, Sic58, Snipers, and Max Racing), and an agreement with Esponsorama Racing which would see Sky VR46 enter the MotoGP class with the Spanish team and Esponsorama to expand their Moto3 operations with KTM machinery made available by VR46's departure.^[4][5]

In 2017, the team decided to take part in the Moto2 class also and selected Bagnaia and Stefano Manzi as riders. In just his fourth-ever Moto2 race at Jerez, Bagnaia finished 2nd. He finished 2nd in the next race as well at Le Mans, after having qualified in 2nd place and missing pole position to Thomas Lüthi by just 0.026 seconds. Bagnaia took a third podium at Sachsenring, finishing 3rd behind Franco Morbidelli who won the race and Miguel Oliveira who came in second. At Misano, Bagnaia originally finished the race 4th behind Dominique Aegerter, Thomas Lüthi, and Hafizh Syahrin - however Aegerter was later disqualified, promoting Bagnaia to his fourth podium of the season. He was crowned Moto2 Rookie of the year after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, and finished his rookie season with 174 points to place 5th in the Moto2 Championship, scoring points in 16 of the 18 races. Manzi finished the season in 25th place with 14 points.

In 2018, Bagnaia was confirmed to continue with the team and Luca Marini, Rossi's half-brother, was selected as second rider. Bagnaia opened the season with a win in Qatar, having led the race from start to finish. Bagnaia took a second win in Austin after a hard fight with Álex Márquez, winning the race with a gap of 2.4 seconds and also setting the fastest lap of the race. At Jerez, Bagnaia finished 3rd behind Lorenzo Baldassarri and Miguel Oliveira, holding his starting grid position. Bagnaia took his first pole position in Moto2 at Le Mans, like the race in Qatar he led from start to finish. The win was also his third podium at Le Mans since 2015. Bagnaia took a fourth win at Assen, again the race from pole position and leading the entire race. After qualifying 3rd on the grid in Sachsenring, Bagnaia finished the race in 12th place, having been forced outside of the track after Mattia Pasini fell in front of him in the last corner on the second lap. Despite being down to 26th position, Bagnaia still made up fourteen places, including overtaking Álex Márquez on the final lap in the last corner. At Brno, Bagnaia finished third and lost the championship lead to Oliveira. He retook the championship lead at Austria, winning his fifth race of the season. Bagnaia won his sixth race of the season at Misano from pole position. He took a fifth-straight podium at Buriram, winning the race with his teammate Luca Marini in second place. He took his eighth and final win of the season at Motegi, after Fabio Quartararo (who initially won the race) was disqualified due to low tyre pressure. After finishing 3rd at Sepang, Bagnaia was crowned Moto2 World Champion with his twelfth podium of the season. Marini achieved his first podium in Germany and his first victory in Malaysia, concluding the season in 7th place with 147 points. The VR46 team finished the teams' championship in 2nd place.

In 2019, Marini was confirmed for another season and Nicolò Bulega was selected as second rider. Marini won two races (Thailand and Japan), achieved a second place (Italy), a third place (Netherlands), a pole position (Japan) and a fastest lap (Austria), finishing the season 6th with 190 points. Bulega finished 17th with 48 points, with a 7th place finish as his best result of the season.

For 2020, Marini was partnered with Marco Bezzecchi. With strong performances from both riders (three race wins and six podiums for Marini, two race wins and seven podiums for Bezzecchi), VR46 clinched their first teams' championship with Marini and Bezzecchi finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the riders' championship.

In 2021, Bezzecchi was joined by Celestino Vietti coming from the Moto3 team. With one race win and seven podiums from Bezzecchi and regular points finishes from Vietti, VR46 achieved 3rd place in the teams' championship.

Vietti was paired with Niccolò Antonelli for 2022.^[6] Vietti took his first Moto2 class win at the season opener in Qatar.^[7]

From 2023, Fantic will be its own team at the expense of the VR46 entry, The partnership will be already operational from the race at Silverstone 2022, where the Fantic brand appeared on the motorcycles of Celestino Vietti Ramus and Niccolò Antonelli.^[8]

In 2021, Luca Marini made his MotoGP debut, as VR46 and Esponsorama Racing came to an agreement where Esponsorama would organize the racing operations for an entry under the Italian flag and the Sky VR46 name and livery.^[4][5][9]

Beginning in 2022, the VR46 team entered the MotoGP championship in their own right, taking over the grid slots from Esponsorama Racing who left the premier class after 10 seasons.^[10][11] The team has signed a contract with Ducati for the use of their satellite machinery until at least the end of 2024.^[12] Title sponsorship of the team will be fulfilled by the Mooney Group,^[13] an Italian fintech joint venture between energy concern Enel and banking group Intesa Sanpaolo.^[14] The team will make their debut in the class with riders Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi.^[15] In this season, Luca Marini riding with a Ducati Desmosedici GP22 bike, while Marco Bezzecchi riding with a Ducati Desmosedici GP21 bike.

For the 2023 season, the team continued with both Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi. They will both use the Ducati Desmosedici GP22 citing having more data by using a year old bike is useful. Bezzecchi managed to fight for the championship until late in the season where injuries and an older bike derail his title run. On the 14th of October, the team announced Indonesian lubricant brand Pertamina as their new title sponsor from 2024.^[16] For 2024 Luca Marini depart the team to join HRC Repsol Honda^[17] and will be replaced by Fabio Di Giannantonio.^[18] For 2025 Marco Bezzecchi depart the team to join Aprilia Racing.^[19]

As of 17 November 2024

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Season	Machine	No	Rider	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	R.C.	Points	T.C.	Points
2014	KTM RC250GP	5	Romano Fenati	QAT 12	AME 2	ARG 1	SPA 1	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT 5	NED 18	GER Ret	IND 2	CZE 11	GBR 16	RSM 11	ARA 1	JPN 7	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 14		5th	176	-	-
		21	Francesco Bagnaia	QAT 10	AME 7	ARG Ret	SPA 8	FRA 4	ITA Ret	CAT 10	NED DNS	GER DNS	IND Ret	CZE 17	GBR 21	RSM Ret	ARA 24	JPN 13	AUS 11	MAL Ret	VAL 16		16th	50
2015	KTM RC250GP	5	Romano Fenati	QAT Ret	AME 8	ARG 8	SPA 6	FRA 1	ITA 3	CAT 8	NED 5	GER 4	IND 4	CZE 6	GBR 12	RSM 4	ARA 3	JPN 28	AUS 6	MAL 5	VAL Ret		4th	176	-	-
		16	Andrea Migno	QAT 24	AME 12	ARG 17	SPA 21	FRA 9	ITA 15	CAT 28	NED 12	GER 21	IND 20	CZE 13	GBR 15	RSM 13	ARA 9	JPN 20	AUS Ret	MAL 24	VAL 11		19th	35
		8	Nicolò Bulega																		VAL 12		31st	4
2016	KTM RC250GP	5	Romano Fenati	QAT 4	ARG 20	AME 1	SPA 7	FRA 2	ITA Ret	CAT 4	NED 4	GER 18	AUT DNS										10th	93	-	-
		16	Andrea Migno	QAT 17	AME 29	ARG 15	SPA 11	FRA 7	ITA 10	CAT 18	NED 3	GER Ret	AUT 25	CZE 12	GBR Ret	RSM 15	ARA 11	JPN 24	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 3		17th	63
		8	Nicolò Bulega	QAT 6	ARG 18	AME 10	SPA 2	FRA 5	ITA 8	CAT 5	NED 7	GER Ret	AUT 9	CZE 9	GBR 5	RSM 4	ARA Ret	JPN 3	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 17		7th	129
		48	Lorenzo Dalla Porta												GBR 18	RSM 17	ARA 25	JPN 11	AUS 19	MAL 16	VAL Ret		30th	12
2017	KTM RC250GP	8	Nicolò Bulega	QAT 14	ARG 16	AME 5	SPA 7	FRA 17	ITA 10	CAT 9	NED 10	GER 4	CZE 23	AUT 11	GBR 20	RSM 5	ARA 14	JPN 12	AUS 11	MAL Ret	VAL DNS		12th	81	-	-
		16	Andrea Migno	QAT 6	ARG 5	AME 12	SPA 6	FRA 8	ITA 1	CAT 8	NED 14	GER 16	CZE 11	AUT 21	GBR 8	RSM 9	ARA 11	JPN 13	AUS 14	MAL 6	VAL 16		9th	118
		10	Dennis Foggia														ARA 8				VAL 7		24th	19
2018	KTM RC250GP	8	Nicolò Bulega	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME Ret	SPA 17	FRA Ret	ITA 21	CAT Ret	NED 11	GER 14	CZE 19	AUT 23	GBR C	RSM Ret	ARA 14	THA 7					26th	18	9th	97
		10	Dennis Foggia	QAT 16	ARG Ret	AME 16	SPA Ret	FRA 14	ITA Ret	CAT 9	NED 12	GER 19	CZE 12	AUT 26	GBR C	RSM 7	ARA 25	THA 3	JPN 4	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL Ret	19th	55
		13	Celestino Vietti																JPN 14	AUS 3	MAL Ret	VAL 10	25th	24
2019	KTM RC250GP	7	Dennis Foggia	QAT Ret	ARG 8	AME 10	SPA 16	FRA Ret	ITA 5	CAT 5	NED 9	GER Ret	CZE 15	AUT 14	GBR 8	RSM 5	ARA 3	THA 5	JPN 23	AUS 11	MAL 19	VAL DNS	12th	97	4th	232
		13	Celestino Vietti	QAT 5	ARG 14	AME 9	SPA 3	FRA 7	ITA 9	CAT 3	NED Ret	GER Ret	CZE 19	AUT 4	GBR 9	RSM Ret	ARA 14	THA 6	JPN 3	AUS Ret	MAL 5	VAL 8	6th	135
		20	Elia Bartolini													RSM 15							34th	1
2020	KTM RC250GP	13	Celestino Vietti	QAT 28	SPA 5	AND 3	CZE 13	AUT 5	STY 1	RSM Ret	EMI 2	CAT 8	FRA 1	ARA 9	TER 5	EUR 23	VAL 24	POR 7					5th	146	3rd	206
		16	Andrea Migno	QAT 16	SPA 4	AND 22	CZE 14	AUT 12	STY 13	RSM 10	EMI 8	CAT Ret	FRA 5	ARA Ret	TER 18	EUR 12	VAL 7	POR 21					15th	60

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Season	Machine	No	Rider	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	R.C.	Points	T.C.	Points
2017	Kalex Moto2	42	Francesco Bagnaia	QAT 12	ARG 7	AME 16	SPA 2	FRA 2	ITA 22	CAT 13	NED 10	GER 3	CZE 7	AUT 4	GBR 5	RSM 3	ARA 10	JPN 4	AUS 12	MAL 5	VAL 4			5th	174	-	-
		62	Stefano Manzi	QAT 29	ARG 23	AME Ret	SPA 25	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 20	GER 15	CZE 21	AUT Ret	GBR 7	RSM Ret	ARA 15	JPN 26	AUS 13	MAL Ret	VAL Ret			25th	14
2018	Kalex Moto2	42	Francesco Bagnaia	QAT 1	ARG 9	AME 1	SPA 3	FRA 1	ITA 4	CAT 8	NED 1	GER 12	CZE 3	AUT 1	GBR C	RSM 1	ARA 2	THA 1	JPN 1	AUS 12	MAL 3	VAL 14		1st	306	2nd	453
		10	Luca Marini	QAT 9	ARG 16	AME 13	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 7	CAT 17	NED 8	GER 3	CZE 2	AUT 3	GBR C	RSM Ret	ARA 11	THA 2	JPN 9	AUS 5	MAL 1	VAL Ret		7th	147
2019	Kalex Moto2	11	Nicolò Bulega	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME	SPA 9	FRA 10	ITA Ret	CAT 13	NED Ret	GER 18	CZE 7	AUT 13	GBR 20	RSM Ret	ARA 12	THA 8	JPN Ret	AUS 12	MAL 12	VAL 22		17th	48	6th	238
		10	Luca Marini	QAT 8	ARG 7	AME 6	SPA 8	FRA 13	ITA 2	CAT 6	NED 3	GER 10	CZE 5	AUT Ret	GBR 9	RSM 11	ARA 4	THA 1	JPN 1	AUS Ret	MAL 10	VAL 8		6th	190
2020	Kalex Moto2	10	Luca Marini	QAT Ret	SPA 1	AND 2	CZE 4	AUT 2	STY 7	RSM 1	EMI 4	CAT 1	FRA 17	ARA Ret	TER 11	EUR 6	VAL 5	POR 2						2nd	196	1st	380
		72	Marco Bezzecchi	QAT 12	SPA Ret	AND 3	CZE 6	AUT 6	STY 1	RSM 2	EMI 2	CAT 7	FRA 3	ARA Ret	TER Ret	EUR 1	VAL 3	POR 4						4th	184
2021	Kalex Moto2	13	Celestino Vietti	QAT 12	DOH 7	POR Ret	SPA 18	FRA 19	ITA 16	CAT 14	GER 15	NED 10	STY 6	AUT 6	GBR 12	ARA 15	RSM 10	AME Ret	EMI 4	ALR 6	VAL 4			12th	89	3rd	303
		72	Marco Bezzecchi	QAT 4	DOH 4	POR 6	SPA 2	FRA 3	ITA 3	CAT 4	GER 3	NED 5	STY 1	AUT 10	GBR 2	ARA Ret	RSM 5	AME 3	EMI Ret	ALR 8	VAL 20			3rd	214
2022	Kalex Moto2	13	Celestino Vietti	QAT 1	INA 2	ARG 1	AME Ret	POR 2	SPA 6	FRA 8	ITA Ret	CAT 1	GER Ret	NED 4	GBR 6	AUT Ret	RSM Ret	ARA 10	JPN Ret	THA 10	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL Ret	7th	165	8th	165
		28	Niccolò Antonelli	QAT 26	INA 25	ARG Ret	AME Ret	POR Ret	SPA 23	FRA Ret	ITA 18	CAT 19	GER Ret	NED Ret	GBR 19	AUT 16	RSM Ret	ARA 20	JPN Ret	THA 22	AUS Ret	MAL 21	VAL Ret	36th	0

(key)

Season	Name	Machine	Tyres	No.	Rider	Race																						R.C.	Points	T.C.	Points	M.C.	Points
						1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
2022	Mooney VR46 Racing Team					QAT	INA	ARG	AME	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	RSM	ARA	JPN	THA	AUS	MAL	VAL					8th	231	1st	448
		Ducati Desmosedici GP22	M	10	Luca Marini	13	14	11	17	12	16	9	6	6	5	17	12	4	4	7F	6	23	6	Ret	7			12th	120
		Ducati Desmosedici GP21		72	Marco Bezzecchi	Ret	20	9	Ret	15	9	12	5	Ret	11	2	10	9	17	10	10	16P	4	4	11			14th	111
2023	Mooney VR46 Racing Team					POR	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	CAT	RSM	IND	JPN	INA	AUS	THA	MAL	QAT	VAL					3rd	530	1st	700
		Ducati Desmosedici GP22	M	10	Luca Marini	Ret	83	27	6	Ret4	45	54	7	7	4	11	97	DNS		RetP 2	12	73	109	33	9			8th	201
				72	Marco Bezzecchi	3	12 F	66	Ret9	17 F	82	47	2P 1	RetP 2	3	128	22	1P 5 F	46	53	6	46 F	67	13	Ret7			3rd	329
2024	Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team					QAT	POR	AME	SPA	FRA	CAT	ITA	NED	GER	GBR	AUT	ARA	RSM	EMI	INA	JPN	AUS	THA	MAL	SLD					5th	318	1st	722
		Ducati Desmosedici GP23	M	49	Fabio Di Giannantonio	7	10	6	7	67	56	77	45	Ret	59	DNS	8	9	14	Ret9	86	47	48 F					10th	165
				29	Andrea Iannone																			17				27th	0
				51	Michele Pirro																				20			29th	0
				72	Marco Bezzecchi	14	6	8	3	Ret	119	13	Ret	8	8	68	7	5	48	54	7	19	Ret7	9	98			12th	153

No.	Name	Seasons	Wins	Podiums
1	Francesco Bagnaia	2014, 2017–2018	8	16
2	Marco Bezzecchi	2020–2024	6	22
3	Luca Marini	2018–2023	6	17
4	Romano Fenati	2014–2016	6	11
5	Celestino Vietti	2018–2022	4	11
6	Andrea Migno	2015–2017, 2020	1	3