VR46 will participate in MotoGP in 2022 with Ducati: a three-year contract signed in the name of Made in Italy.
ARAMCO RACING TEAM VR46 will be a satellite team of the Borgo Panigale factory in the top category.
The signing follows the five-year agreement between the Tavullia team and Dorna Sports for participation in the MotoGP world championship.
At the helm of the team, in the role of Team Manager of the new team, is Pablo Nieto, who has been working alongside the young talents of the VR46 Riders Academy since 2015.
Tavullia (Italy), June 24, 2021 – A project was born in 2013, that of the VR46 Riders Academy to support young talents in motorcycling made in Italy, with constant growth, from the lower categories, passing through Moto2 to reach taking the first steps in the premier category, and a promise kept for eight years: To arrive in MotoGP under the banner of the Italian flag.
Lots of news to come for 2022, but unchanged goals and passion for the newborn Aramco Racing Team VR46: from the signing of thefive-year agreement for participation in the MotoGP World Championship between VR46 and Dorna Sports, at three-year contract with Ducati to bring Italian excellence in motorcycling and young talents from the national nursery to the higher category, this has always been among the objectives of the VR46 Riders Academy.
The Aramco Racing Team VR46 will be a satellite team of the Borgo Panigale manufacturer with two motorcycles lined up on the starting grid for the 2022 season. Promoted to head the MotoGP team, in the role of Team Manager, Pablo Nieto is has been linked to the talents of the VR46 Riders Academy and the Sky Racing Team VR46 in Moto3 and Moto2 since 2015.
The agreement consolidates the partnership between VR46 and Tanal Entertainment Sport & Media, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, and is part of Tanal Entertainment Sport&Media's investment plans linked to Saudi Vision 2030. These include major urban projects linked to the KSA New Cities brand, research and technological avant-garde with the participation of MAIC Technologies, KMHG and other international partners and projects aimed at sustainability also in the motorsport sector.
Alessio Salucci, VR46 Riders Academy:
« We are happy to announce that in 2022 we will be racing in MotoGP with a team of two riders in the colors of the VR46. A journey that began a little over eight years ago with the start of the VR46 Riders Academy, a great adventure shared with Sky, a long and demanding journey but full of satisfaction and which makes us very proud. This step has a truly unique meaning, but it is not an end point. Year after year, since 2013, we have grown, we have managed to write beautiful pages of our sport between Moto3 and Moto2, and we have crossed our path with many young talents of Italian motorcycling whom we have had the privilege of being able to support in their journey, and which we will continue to support from the lower categories to MotoGP. A key moment in our history which would not have been possible without Carmelo Ezpeleta, who always believed in this project, and without Ducati for the trust it placed in us for the future. »
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports:
« Having the pleasure of welcoming the VR46 team to the MotoGP class in 2022 is exciting for fans around the world and the MotoGP paddock, who have followed the incredible career of Valentino Rossi and the growth of the VR46 Riders Academy since the beginning . Valentino is and will remain a very important part of the FIM MotoGP World Championship and, now, with the arrival of his Team in the MotoGP category, his breathtaking legacy will continue to inspire new generations of riders and fans. We welcome them to the premier category and look forward to great achievements in the future. »
Luigi Dall'Igna, General Director of Ducati Corse:
« We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with VR46 for the next three years. The VR46 Riders Academy has always worked seriously and professionally, giving many riders the opportunity to gain experience in Moto2 and Moto3, and today it can be proud to have brought three very talented young riders into MotoGP. VR46 has also shown that they know how to manage their team in Moto3 and Moto2 competently and successfully, and therefore we will strive to provide maximum technical support to their new team in MotoGP, convinced of having found in VR46 an ambitious and motivated partner like us, with the common objective of obtaining great results together. »
HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud:
« In order to over-communicate the beauty of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030", from our thousand-year history to the major projects announced for the coming years, we have chosen VR46 for a five-year joint venture as a strategic partner to participate in as protagonists in the MotoGP World Championship organized by Dorna Sports. The agreement just signed between the team and Ducati for the supply of motorcycles for the 2022-2024 seasons is certainly very positive news. Ducati is a very professional and appreciated company, both in Italy and abroad, and which has demonstrated incredible competitiveness. It would be fantastic for me if Valentino Rossi could race in the next few years as a driver in our Aramco Racing Team VR46 with his brother Luca Marini who is already racing this year with the sponsorship of our brands KSA New Cities, MAIC Technologies, TANAL Entertainment Sport&Media . In the coming days, TANAL Entertainment Sport&Media and Aramco will announce from Saudi Arabia a collaboration in international motorsport projects and details of the project with VR46 in the MotoGP and Moto2 world championships with the hope of being able to expand the presence in the world championship which represents a fantastic spectacle to train the next generation of drivers, including those from Saudi Arabia. »
