Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing

VR46 Racing in 2024

VR46 will have a revised rider line-up for the first time in its short MotoGP career with Luca Marini leaving for Repsol Honda and replaced by Gresini’s 2023 race winner Fabio di Giannantonio.

Having turned down the option of factory-spec bikes at Pramac, third in the standings Marco Bezzecchi will remain at Valentino Rossi’s team for a third season.

Both di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi will be on year-old Desmosedici GP23s.

VR46 Racing’s MotoGP history

The VR46 Racing team, a natural extension of the VR46 Riders Academy, made its grand prix debut in the Moto3 class in 2014, followed by Moto2 in 2017 and finally MotoGP in 2021.

That debut premier-class year saw VR46 reach an agreement with Esponsorama (Avintia) Racing to run Luca Marini on one side of the satellite Ducati garage, before taking over both grid slots for an official VR46 MotoGP team in 2022.

After the expected sponsorship from Aramco fell through, Mooney appeared as title sponsor for 2022 when Marini was paired with rookie Marco Bezzecchi, stepping up from the VR46 Moto2 team. Marini was granted a fifth factory-spec Ducati, while ‘Bez’ rode a year-old bike.

Marini, whose perfect run of MotoGP finishes finally ended at the penultimate Sepang round, was higher in the world championship (12th) but Bezzecchi took VR46’s first MotoGP podium on his way to 14th.

Both VR46 riders were on year-old bikes for 2023, when Bezzecchi came out firing with a podium at round one, debut victory at round two (Argentina), and then another at round five (Le Mans).

The factory GP24s began to stretch their legs as the season went on, but Bezzecchi added a third win in India before suffering a fractured right collarbone in training.

That meant both VR46 riders had collarbone fractures with Marini breaking his left bone when he clipped the back of Bezzecchi at turn one of the Buddh Sprint race.

Marini, by now heavily linked with taking over Marc Marquez’s vacant seat at Repsol Honda, took his final VR46 Grand Prix podium at the penultimate Qatar round while Bezzecchi’s only top three after his injury was a Sprint third, behind Marini, in Indonesia.

Nonetheless, Bezzecchi finished an excellent third and top satellite rider in the world championship, with Marini in eighth.