Yamaha to close VR46 Master Camp Moto2 team
Yamaha and VR46 will part ways at the end of the 2024 Moto2 World Championship.
Yamaha’s eight-year rider development partnership with VR46, including the ‘Master Camp’ Moto2 team, will end after Sunday’s Barcelona season finale.
The collaboration began in 2016 with a five-day training program for young riders at Valentino Rossi’s ranch in Tavullia.
Those efforts expanded in 2017 with the VR46 Junior Team project giving Master Camp recruits and Yamaha bLU cRU riders a chance to gain racing experience across Europe.
The team, which initially competed in the CEV Moto3 class, then moved up to Moto2 in 2019.
The ‘Yamaha VR46 Master Camp team’ entered the Moto2 World Championship in 2022 with rookies Manuel Gonzalez and Keminth Kubo.
Gonzalez continued in 2023, joined by Japanese rider Kotha Nozane. The Spaniard delivered several top-five finishes including second at the Qatar GP, the team‘s best performance to date.
This year the team has run Ayumu Sasaki and Jeremy Alcoba, the latter achieving two fourth-place results.
But with VR46 forging closer MotoGP ties with Ducati while Yamaha’s new satellite MotoGP partnership with Pramac ‘includes a future Moto2 project', the writing was on the wall for the VR46-Master Camp project.
“We are immensely proud of everything the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team has achieved during these eight years together,” said Tetsu Ono, General Manager of Yamaha’s Motorsports Strategy Division
“This partnership has been dedicated to nurturing young talent, and together we have celebrated growth, resilience, and memorable milestones on the track.
“As we close this chapter, Yamaha is grateful for the incredible journey shared with VR46 and wishes everyone involved a brilliant future.”
VR46’s Alessio Salucci added: “We can only be proud of this great project that we have been carrying forward for eight years together with Yamaha. From the very beginning, we knew we had to offer something unique to help young riders grow by giving them the best opportunities.
“When we started in 2016 with the Master Camp camps in Tavullia, no one could have imagined that the project would evolve to the point of having our own team in the Moto2 World Championship.
“We would like to thank Yamaha, all the sponsors, the riders, and the staff who have been with us over these years, as well as the entire community of fans who have supported us throughout this great Yamaha VR46 Master Camp adventure.”
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
