VR46: Three teams, two classes for 2022 Grand Prix season

VR46 will have one team in MotoGP, two teams in Moto2 and also support its Academy riders with placements in a pair of Moto3 teams next season.
Marco Bezzecchi, Moto2, Aragon MotoGP, 10 September 2021
Marco Bezzecchi, Moto2, Aragon MotoGP, 10 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

VR46 will enter three teams in two grand prix classes next season, whiꦰle also having 'ꦉsupporting' agreements with a pair of Moto3 outfits.

Alongside the full MotoGP entry with Ducati, VR46 will double its presence in the Moto2 class by running a second ✨team for Yamaha Master Camp riders.

The VR46 Master Camp Team currently competes in the CEV Moto2 European championship, helping Yamaha develop young riders for the future. This year's line-up features Thai competitors Keminth Kubo and Peerapong Boonlert, Frenchman Andy Verdoïa and McKinley Paz🃏 from the Philippines.

But for Moto3, the first stꦕep on the grand prix ladder, VR46 will continue to rely on placing its Academy riders within other teams.

"In 2022, VR46 will race with two teams in Moto2, including one [new] project with Yamaha. That project will come from the Spanish championship, it's already there, so now it's growing up and coming to the world championship," explain🐠ed VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto.

"Then it's the same VR46 team as we have now in Moto2 and then MotoGP with Ducati with the two riders that also everyone knows [Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, st൩ill to be officially confirmed].

"In Moto3 we will support let's say two teams, Snipers and Avintia, but they are separate [from VR46]. We don’t have anything except an agreement that we will put some riders from the Academy in there, which is important f꧒or us because we have so many riders from the Academy to grow🔯 up.

"For us it was so difficult to continue to have the VR46 team in Moto3. I think we h꧅ave to concentrate our [efforts] because we have a lot of tℱhings to do. It's important to make some deals with other teams [for Moto3]."

For now, Nieto expects the official VR46 teams to stick with their primary goal of helping young Italian riders rea🐭ch MotoGP.

"At the moment our project is to try to bring young riders from Italy to the world championship and then Mo𒆙toGP class," he said. "I think at the moment we will continue like this.

"We have four riders in MotoGP (next year), so it means the Academy is working really go🥂od and the res♑ults are there."

While VR46⭕'s 2022 MotoGP riders, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, are an open secret, it remains to be seen who will bꦓe chosen to join Celestino Vietti in Moto2 and who Yamaha will select for the Master Camp seats.

Both the official VR46 MotoGP and Moto2 teams are due to have new title sponso📖rship from Aramco next season. Doubts have been cast over the deal, but Nieto says slow progress is being made.

"As you know we made the agreement with Aramco and things are going very slow," he said. "There are some delays, but we are on the way anꦉd have to keep working."

The current list of 'official' VR46 Academy Riders:
1.    Franco Morbidelli (MotoGP)
2.    Francesco Bagnaia (MotoGP)
3.    Luca Marini (MotoGP)
4.    Marco Bezzecchi (Moto2)
5.    Celestino Vietti (Moto2)
6.    Stefano Manzi (Moto2)
7.    Niccolò Antonelli (Moto3)
8.    Andrea Migno (Moto3)
9.    Alberto Surra (Moto3)

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