VR46 unveils special Mandalika MotoGP livery | “I felt like Justin Bieber!”

With Indonesian petroleum company Pertamina as its title sponsor and a special patriotic red-and-white livery, VR46 will be the adopted home team in this weekend’s Mandalika MotoGP.

Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio di Giannantonio, who unveiled the special colours on Thursday, said they had been blown away by the ‘rock star’ reception they’ve received since arriving in the country.

“I felt like Justin Bieber, or yeah, the Beatles!” said Diggia. “It’s like when a rock star arrives in a city I guess! It was amazing to see all the support during the parade [on Wednesday].

“I’ve never seen so many people cheering, screaming and being excited. For sure this will give us extra motivation. I love the special livery, it’s quite aggressive, with the Indonesia flag. I hope to do a really good job.”

Bezzecchi, whose picture also features on posters around the island, added: “It’s a bit strange for me to be honest! I’m not used to seeing myself in so many pictures everywhere.

“But the support we have from the fans, as Fabio said, is amazing. We are lucky to have this collaboration with Pertamina and hopefully we can give them all a good show.”

"I am really happy that as a team we were able to honour our partnership with Pertamina Lubricants with this special fairing in the colours of Indonesia," said VR46 team director Alessio Salucci. 

"This has become our third home GP: they welcomed us in an extraordinary way, with truly incredible affection and respect."

Bezzecchi defied recent collarbone surgery to finish third in last year's Mandalika Sprint before a fifth place in the grand prix, one place behind di Giannantonio (then riding for Gresini).