Lorenzo Baldassarri and Luca Marini will represent the colors of Giovanni Cuzari's team in the Moto2 World Championship, while Federico Fuligni will participate in the Moto2 European Championship alongside another rider to be designated.
Lorenzo Baldassarri stood out last year by winning the Misano Grand Prix, ahead of Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami et John Zarco. He climbed to the first row of the starting grid with the third time at Mugello and Misano. His second place in the race at Mugello, fourth in Malaysia and Australia, fifth in Assen and Germany, as well as sixth in the United Kingdom helped him finish eighth in the final Championship standings.
Luca Marini, the half-brother of Valentino Rossi, obtained his best result of sixth place in Germany, then ninth in Malaysia. At the end of the season he ranked twenty-third in the Championship. Federico Fuligni competed in four Grands Prix, with his best results two eighteenth places at Jerez and Misano. He scored points three times in the Moto2 European Championship on a Team Ciatti Kalex, which earned him fifteenth place at the end of the year, just ahead Remy Gardner.
Baldassarri and Marini benefit from the support of the VR46 Riders Academy. For Lorenzo Baldassarri, who are " I used the offseason to recharge my batteries and prepare for an exciting 2017. Late last year I had shoulder surgery and now I'm undergoing progressive rehabilitation, which is almost finished because I have recovered completely. In my opinion, good preparation during the winter is vital and now I am ready for the February test and the start of the season in Qatar. In 2017, I want to improve further and work on my consistency. This year I really expect us to have the opportunity to perform really well and I'm going to give it my all. »
According to Luca marini, who are " The preparations for 2017 were pretty similar to 2016, but now I have another year of experience. I knew which aspects I needed to work on more, on the one hand in the gym, but also in motocross or on the ranch. This year, I want to continue to progress, improving my consistency and my results. In 2016, I learned that this is something I need to give importance to. I think the key is to score as many points as possible, get better results and always give 100%. My goals for 2017 are to consistently place in the top 10, so I aim to improve further because there is still room for improvement. My dream would be to get on the podium this year. »
For the team manager Giovanni Cuzari, « Obviously, the goal is to win the World Championship in 2017 because if you are involved in the race, the goal is always to win. Today I would like to express a big thank you to all our sponsors for their trust, as well as to Alessio Salucci and Valentino Rossi, because they gave me the opportunity to show the value of this project. We have two riders from the VR46 Riders Academy in our team, which for me means a lot, because they also take care of the riders when they are not on the right track. My team is simply wonderful. I like to define it as a second family and after deciding to follow my dreams with them, I have a more than positive state of mind regarding each member who is unique. We want to carry over all the positive thoughts from 2016 to achieve our goals in 2017.”
