MotoGP: Ducati factory confirms support for VR46 team

Ducati has announced a partnership with the VR46 racing team. The two-year agreement was announced on the eve of the British Grand Prix. Ducati’s previous exclusive factory support of Pramac Racing will end at the end of this season, with the latter now allied with Yamaha. In response, Ducati has deepened its cooperation with Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team. VR46 will receive full Ducati technical and sports staff for 2025. However, unlike the previous arrangement with Pramac, which included two factory-spec motorcycles, VR46 will field a single factory-spec machine. As a result, Ducati’s allocation of top-level motorcycles for the upcoming season will be reduced to three. The third GP25 is expected to be allocated to Fabio di Giannantonio, who is expected to sign a direct contract with Ducati to race alongside factory riders Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

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Alessio Salucci, Director of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, said: “I am proud to announce that, starting next year, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will become the Ducati Factory Support Team in MotoGP. We will compete on official motorcycles and on the GP24. If they had said this a few years ago, I would not have believed it. This is a truly significant moment for the entire team: to achieve this in just three years, with a young team and with so many players coming from Moto3, is an amazing thing. I would like to thank all the staff and partners in the team, especially Pertamina Lubricants, Ducati and Gigi Dall’Igna, who believed in this project and succeeded today in taking it to the heights it deserves. We have a challenging few years ahead of us, but we can’t wait to test ourselves and strive to achieve ambitious results.”

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Luigi Dall’Igna, General Manager of Ducati Corse, said: “From day one, the VR46 Racing Team has demonstrated its ability to work perfectly with Ducati and together we have achieved important results in recent years. We are therefore delighted to be able to further strengthen our relationship by offering full factory support to the Pesaro-based team from next season. I am sure that together we can achieve other important goals! I would like to thank Valentino, Uccio, Pablo and all those who have worked with the team with great passion and dedication once again.”

While the VR46 Racing team has yet to officially confirm its driver line-up for the 2025 season, it is widely expected that Franco Morbidelli will join from Pramac Racing to partner Fabio di Giannantonio.