Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing

VR46 Racing in 2025

VR46 becomes Ducati's official Independent MotoGP team in 2025 when Fabio di Giannantonio will ride factory-spec GP25s alongside new team-mate Franco Morbidelli.

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.

After race wins and the early MotoGP title lead in 2023, Valentino Rossi’s team had less to celebrate in 2024. But there were more important ‘results’ off track, where VR46 signed to replace Pramac as Ducati’s official satellite team from 2025.

Luca Marini, leaving for Repsol Honda, was replaced by Gresini’s 2023 race winner Fabio di Giannantonio while having turned down the option of factory-spec bikes at Pramac, Bezzecchi remained for a third season.

But Bezzecchi in particular would struggle on the team's GP23 machinery. Although he took VR46's only podium of the year at Jerez, Bezzecchi eventually slipped to 12th and last of the Ducati riders in the world championship standings.

Diggia finished two places ahead of Bezzecchi despite skipping the final two rounds to undergo shoulder surgery to repair damage from a practice accident in Austria. di Giannantonio was especially eager to be fully fit for 2025 after being promoted to full factory-spec machinery at VR46 next year.

With Bezzecchi moving to Aprilia, fellow Academy member Franco Morbidelli will join VR46 as di Giannantonio's team-mate, riding a GP24.