VR46 reveals special stars and stripes livery for MotoGP’s Americas GP

Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team has revealed a special one-off livery for this weekend’s Americas Grand Prix at Austin.

The VR46 squad will ditch its familiar white-and-flourescent yellow colour scheme for a darker look, while also incorporating the famous stars and stripes design from the US flag.

Botch Fabio di Giannantonio and the team’s 2025 recruit Franco Morbidelli will race at the Circuit of the Americas with the new livery on their respective Ducati bikes.

VR46 said the paint job has been inspired by the National Football League (NFL) and its blue riband event, the Super Bowl.

The Italian outfit had already announced plans for a surprise livery change earlier in the week, but it was only on Thursday evening that the team took the covers off its updated bike.

VR46 has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025 season, with Morbidelli finishing on the podium last time out in Argentina and di Giannantonio also finishing inside the top five in the same race despite still recovering from a pre-season injury.

Their early results have allowed VR46 to move up to third place in the teams’ standings, only behind the factory Ducati team and Gresini Racing.

Last year, di Giannantonio finished sixth at the Texas venue, while then-teammate Marco Bezzecchi crossed the finish line in eighth on the sister GP23 bike.

“We are heading to Austin, a track that I love, even if it’s very demanding and different from the past two tracks we’ve been raced at this season,” said Morbidelli, who retired from last year’s race while riding for Pramac-Ducati.

“We arrive with a great boost in confidence and enthusiasm after the strong result we got in Argentina.

“The goal is to keep that momentum going and start strong from the first day, working as good as we did in the first two races.

“I’m back to the U.S. with a lot of excitement after my time in Brazil last week – it was amazing.”

“I am excited for the race weekend in the United States,” said di Giannantonio. “We are making progress, the recovery is going well and I’ve been training normally in the past few days.

“Austin is one of the most demanding tracks of the calendar, so it’s important to arrive there as prepared as possible.

“I’m happy with my physical preparation, we will try to maintain the momentum we built in Termas too. Starting strong from the start will be crucial.”