VR46 hopes Marini, Bezzecchi can become factory riders

Is the main goal of the new VR46 MotoGP team to eventually challenge for the premier-class title itself, or to prepare their young Academy riders for a seat with a factory team?

Mooney VR46 Ducati team director Alessio 'Uccio' Salucci made clear it’s the latter he has in mind for Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, who have been picked to form the team's inaugural premier-class line-up.

"This is a good question. For sure we do our team for our riders and I hope our riders [can then] go into the factory team," Salucci said. "Maybe not in the next two years, but after yes, for sure.

"We work for Marini and Bezzecchi and sincerely I hope [for them] to go into a factory team. Hopefully Ducati or another, I don’t know. But we are here for Luca and for Marco and we hope they can go to the factory team."

Salucci admitted the VR46 brand and chance to be associated with Valentino Rossi had helped with finding the budget for a MotoGP move, eight years after the team's Moto3 debut, but it had still been a challenge.

"It's always difficult to find the budget because to do MotoGP and Moto2 you need a lot of money. For sure with 'VR46' and 'Vale' it's easier. But it's still not easy."

The most obvious difficulty for VR46 to overcome was the collapse of the previously announced Aramco title sponsorship, with Mooney stepping in as a late replacement.

"Like everyone knows, we signed a contract with them," said team manager Pablo Nieto. "But I think the [timing] was completely different to what was needed. So that's why we decided to continue our line, let's say, and then we found Mooney.

"It's really important for us because, like everyone knows, we already signed the contract with Aramco but anyway in the end we know it's so difficult because of all the [timing], so it was because of the time."

"We started to work in March-April last year on this [MotoGP] project," Salucci added. "But especially the last three months we worked very strongly in VR46 with our guys, with Ducati, to build the team and go to the tests in Malaysia and Indonesia.

"The team is new but already we worked in a good way. For sure the road is long, but anyway we try at 100% and we'll see what happens."

Marini, who will have the latest GP22 Ducati machinery, was fastest on the penultimate day of pre-season testing and third on the combined Mandalika timesheets. Bezzecchi, riding the GP21, was top rookie in 20th.

Rossi, now starting a new chapter in sportscar racing after the end of his legendary two-wheel career, made a brief appearance on stage at the launch, where he was introduced as VR46 'team owner'.

"Valentino has stopped riding in MotoGP, unfortunately, and now he has the new adventure with the cars. But he also has more time now to dedicate to this project, this team," Salucci said.

"He came two or three times a week into the VR46 office to understand, to work and help us, and he is 100% inside this project. We are very happy because Vale always has ideas, is very smart, has a lot of experience and is special for us."

It's not yet clear if Rossi will be trackside for the team's race debut in Qatar on March 6 but either way it will be a landmark moment for VR46.

"The VR46 project has been evolving since starting in 2014. Now we have the MotoGP team with Luca and Bezzecchi, two riders that have been with us for many years," Salucci said.

"We are very excited and want to see our bike on track in Qatar."