Valentino Rossi lays down expectations for VR46 in MotoGP 2025

Valentino Rossi spells out VR46's MotꦆoGP targets for its first season as Ducati’s official satellite team.

Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi

Taking over from Pramac as Ducati’s official satellite MotoGP team, expectations are ‘very high’ for Valentino Rossi🦋’s VR46 squad ♎in 2025.

While Pramac and Jorge Martin made history as Independent world champions last season, VR46 slumped from three wins and third in the 2023 standings with Marco Bezzecchi to just a singl🌃e podium.

That was again by Bez, but he was left twelfth and last of the Ducatis in the final standings. New arrival 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Fabio di Giannantonio was tenth after 🌱missing the closing rounds du🌜e to shoulder surgery.

But the team’s upgrade in Ducati status means di Giannantonio will now be the only rider on the grid to have the sa🌃me factory-spec Desmosedici GP25 as official Ducati Lenovo riders Francesco ♕Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

Alongside Diggia will be new signing 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Franco Morbidelli, who moves across from Pramac to take over the ex-Bezzecchi seat, 🦹riding a GP24.

“The expectations for the team in the 2025 season are very high because we are the second team of Ducati and the Ducati ꦗin recent seasons are very competitive and very strong,” said team owner and nine time world champion Valentino Rossi.

“So we hope th▨at we can fight for some podiums, win some races if it's possible and try to arrive in the top po🃏sitions in the championship, I want to say the top five.”

2025 VR46 team launch
2025 VR46 team launch

Both di Giannantonio and Morbidelli are proven MotoGP race winners, Diggi✤a at Gresini Duca📖ti in 2023 and Morbidelli on his way to title runner-up at Petronas Yamaha in 2020.

“We are very happy to have two Italian riders, one also from the Academy. And I think we🍌 can be very competi🅷tive,” Rossi added.

Morbidelli’s 𒀰arrival is especially significant for Rossi. ‘Franky’ was the first official member of the Academy, its first world champion courtesy of his 2017 Moto2 title, and its first MotoGP race winner.

But until now🌄, he has never raced for a VR46 team.

“To have Franco finally⛎ in the team is very special for us because Franco is an Academy rider and we’ve always stayed together for all of his career and tried to help him,” confirmed Rossi.

“So to have him in the team is like c꧃losing a circle and we hope we can be strong.”

di Giannantonio, by contraಞst, is the first VR46 team rider not to be part of the Academy.

After a pair o🍷f fourth places in his debut season at the Tavullia-based team, plus an upgrade in machinery, Rossi se♓es Diggia as a victory contender.

“The expectations for Diggia are very high because he’s demonstrated he’s very fast with the Ducati,” Rossi said. “He knows the bike and also the team, because he was already with us in 2024 where he demonstrated a lot of pot༺ential, a lot of speed.

“On a lot of occasions, he was a𒐪 little bit unlucky so we hope🍨 this year we can achieve more podiums, victories and better results.”

di Giannantonio and Morbidelli will ride ꧑in VR46's distinctive fluorescent yellow and white livery, which now features some special touche🍎s from Rossi’s own career: Sun and moon stencils, plus a 46 surrounding their racing numbers.

“I’m very happy wi🌼th the new livery,” Rossi said. “We followed the concept of last year with Aldo Drudi, my historic designer, and the bike with [florescent] yellow is very much ‘our’ bike. And now with the sun and moon and 46, it’s even more 🍃special.”

Speaking in an interview for the team’s launch𒆙 in Jakarta on Saturday, home city of title sponsor Pertamina Rossi concluded: “Pertamina is our sponsor, it’s very good to make this project together. 🥂I think we are the national Indonesian team!

“It’s great to make the presen🅺tation there because Indonesia has a lot of MotoGP fans, and fans of our team.”

Rossi’s team will be on track with its 2025 machines and livery during the official Sepan🌱g te♏st from February 5-7.

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