In 2019 there was a rout at the Valentino Rossi Young Drivers Academy. Two of its main figures in Moto2, Nicoló Bulega and Lorenzo Baldassarri, announced that they would no longer be part of the VR46 Academy at the end of that season. The same thing happened with Dennis Foggia in Moto3.
During their years under the Rossi umbrella, Bulega and Foggia were proclaimed junior world champions in the FIM CEV Repsol . In the case of Baldassarri, he went on to win five Grand Prix in Moto2 and led the championship for several races. However, the three decided to leave the Academy at the end of 2019
Since then, Baldassarri and Bulega have not raised their heads. The one from San Severino Marche started 2020 with a podium in Qatar, before the pandemic broke out. From then on, he only finished one race in the top 5, and in 2021 he changed the Pons team – Kalex chassis – for MV Agusta . This season he has only scored twice.
Bulega, for his part, after not finishing exploding in Moto3 due to his 1.81 meter height on paper, made the jump to Moto2 in 2019 with the VR46. However, after their separation, he decided to go to the Gresini team, where he has competed for the last two seasons and has only finished two races in the top 10.
A few weeks ago, Ducati announced that the young rider who won the FIM CEV Repsol from Joan Mir in 2015 will race with them in the Supersport World Championship, where they will make their debut in 2022. He leaves the World Championship at the age of 21 and has two podium finishes in six seasons.
In the case of Baldassarri, his future looks far from MV Agusta. With three races to finish the season, it is unknown what he will do in 2022 and any option would not be surprising.
The one who has fared best of the three is Foggia, who has not been without trouble either. The Leopard rider has renewed with Christian Lundberg’s team, all this after the scuffle they had this season – he charged the team for prohibiting his father from entering the box and the truck. Still, he is currently second in the championship with four wins.
Life beyond the VR46 Academy
Baldassarri, Bulega and Foggia are not the only riders who have left the Academy. Romano Fenati was expelled in 2016 for indiscipline. The year after leaving he was proclaimed runner-up in the Moto3 world, and after the incident he had with Stefano Manzi in Misano in 2018, in 2021 he will have a second chance in Moto2 with Speed Up .
Lorenzo Dalla Porta also had a brief stint on the VR46 in 2016 as a substitute. However, he never fully belonged to the Academy and without them he won the Moto3 title in 2019. Although in the last two years in Moto2 he has not finished exploding – a shoulder injury has martyred him in 2021–, the Next season he will be able to continue trying to show his talent at Italtrans in a championship in which we will no longer see Bulega.
(Click on this link or on the photo to see the VR46 Academy drivers who have won races)
