What bikes will Rossi's VR46 race in MotoGP in 2022?

To date, nothing is certain, only that the Italian formation will have a great sponsor and that it has been this one who has confirmed that the VR46 will be on the starting grid of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship as a private team.

VR46 will keep the current seats of the Esponsorama Avintia team, which will disappear from the premier class and which in recent years has competed with Ducati material, strengthening the relationship until it became, last year, a satellite formation of the Borgo Panigale factory .

In a three-way agreement, this year Raúl Romero ‘s team competes with a painted Avintia motorcycle in the hands of Enea Bastianini , who has a direct contract with Ducati, and another with the colors of the VR46, ridden by Luca Marini , whose salary is paid by the academy of his brother Valentino Rossi and which is the seed of the future structure sponsored by Aramco , a company owned by the Saudi holding company Tanal Entertainment Sport & Media .

Pending its announcement, Aramco Racing Team VR46 will sign a contract with MotoGP for the 2022-2026 period, just like the rest of the satellite teams and the manufacturers of the premier class. From then on, it will be Valentino Rossi and his staff who will completely manage the new line-up, and the first and most important mission is to get a manufacturer to supply them with the bikes.

Today the most feasible possibilities that are on the table are to continue with Ducati, take advantage of Valentino’s contractual relationship with Yamaha or, which is what Rossi prefers, convince Suzuki to put two more bikes on the board and, of course, deliver them to your new structure.

Ducati conditions

The Italian manufacturer recently admitted to Motorsport.com that it wants to keep six bikes on the 2022 grid, as it has done in recent years. In addition to the two factory ones and those of Pramac , Ducati could supply two full factory prototypes in 2022 to the new VR46 team, but the Italian brand puts one condition: that it can choose one of the two pilots, bearing the expenses of that side. from the garage. To this day, that position would go to Enea Bastianini . This circumstance collides with the wishes of the Rossi team, which wants to manage the list of pilots to its liking.

Here both parties have a position of strength. VR46 will have a budget thanks to the new sponsor and does not need Ducati’s help to pay for the rider and material. The Italians, who for weeks have sensed the maneuvers of the Rossi team, are in advanced negotiations with the Gresini Racing Team , a structure that has already signed the agreement to continue in MotoGP in the 2022-2026 period, disassociating itself from Aprilia , and that they would be delighted to that Borgo Panigale take charge of a motorcycle and a pilot in a hypothetical collaboration.

We must not forget that the late former rider Fausto Gresini signed a contract in October last year with the rider Fabio Di Giannantonio to ride this year in the Moto2 team and make the jump to MotoGP in 2022, so, in a according to Ducati, they would have their part of the structure completed.

Relationship with Yamaha cools

What seemed like the most natural choice until a few months ago, partnering with Yamaha , has gone absolutely cold. The Iwata brand has a preliminary agreement with its current satellite team, Petronas SRT , as announced by the director of the Malaysian structure Razlan Razali , who even went so far as to assure us at the beginning of March that “Yamaha has presented us with a proposal for the next five years”, the period 2022-2026.

However, everyone is aware of the ties between the Japanese manufacturer and Valentino Rossi , with whom they collaborate very closely on several fronts, such as a contract for the use of the bikes at the Motor Ranch VR46 , the pilot training school which is regularly organized there or has become the clothing supplier for the official team this year through VR46 Racing Apparel .

A network of agreements solidly woven in recent years and that Valentino, despite the current distancing after removing him from the factory team, must know how to manage to maintain the advantages it entails for his companies.

With 12 teams and 24 bikes planned for 2022, today only 22 seem to be more or less insured. In principle, Yamaha does not intend to expand its prototypes on the track from four to six, but if Suzuki and Aprilia do not take a step forward, and if it is Valentino who asks them, the Iwata house could consider it or, ultimately, , leaving Petronas without its two current prototypes. Both situations, right now, complicated.

Suzuki, the great wish

Top of the VR46’s wish list is Suzuki ‘s brand-new GSX-RR , the 2020 champion bike and arguably the most balanced machine on the grid. The Italian structure has already held talks with members of the team in the paddock, both last year and in recent weeks, but at the Hamamatsu factory they have not decided, to date, if they are going to put two more bikes on the table in 2022.

Since its return to the premier class in 2015, there has been talk of Suzuki’s satellite bikes, without much progress in this regard to date.

The relationship of the team’s previous team manager, Davide Brivio , Rossi’s former agent and personal friend, was a wide open door for the deal, but with the departure of the Italian executive to Formula 1 the options have been reduced.

In the Hamamatsu offices they are not convinced of the need to double their presence in MotoGP , nor do they feel pressured by Dorna ‘s desire for the six manufacturers in contention to have satellite bikes.

In fact, Suzuki was the last manufacturer to announce the agreement to continue in the MotoGP World Championship beyond this year. A clear indication that the rush does not go with his character.

Aprilia, if there is no other choice

The option of partnering with Aprilia has not, until now, been among the options being considered by VR46, which last October denied the Italian manufacturer access to one of its emerging riders, Marco Bezzecchi . However, the improvement in performance that the RS-GP 2021 has apparently presented at this start of the season could make the Noale house an option, as long as the previous ones fail. Although not even Valentino Rossi will find it easy to convince his new great sponsor of the virtues of joining the worst bike on the grid so far.