What’s next for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 MotoGP team?

Valentino Rossi’s VR46 MotoGP team could be heading to Yamaha in the near future. Nothing is certain, but there are signs, from MotoGP itself, to GT3 racing and even industrial relationships. 

Valentino Rossi is a legend of Yamaha thanks to his success, and the longevity of that success, with the Iwata factory in MotoGP. Four world titles were won by Rossi for Yamaha, in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009. 

Yet, when it came to bringing his own team into the MotoGP class in 2022, Rossi went to Ducati. Despite the difficult personal history for Rossi with the Bologna brand in 2011 and 2012 when he scored only three podiums, the all-Italian setup of VR46, Ducati, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini have had a strong first year together in MotoGP. 

Bezzecchi, for example, has scored a podium and a pole position in his rookie year, and Marini has gone from struggling to conserve a rear tyre for race distance to equalling his best finishing position of fourth twice since the summer break: in Austria, and then in Misano. 

However, despite the first-year success, VR46 will not be receiving any latest-spec machinery for 2023. Marini is currently on a 2022 Desmosedici, and Bezzecchi on a GP21. For next year, they will seemingly be both on GP22s, so neither on the latest GP23s which will be reserved only for Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini of the factory team; and Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco of the Pramac team.

This is not a disaster for either Marini or Bezzecchi, since Francesco Bagnaia is only two points away from the championship lead after the Grand Prix of Thailand, and Jack Miller is only 40 points back. Further, Enea Bastianini, on a GP21, is 39 points down, and has won four races this season. 

So, there are possibilities for Marini, Bezzecchi, and the VR46 team to have a strong 2023 even without the latest equipment from Bologna. But, in the same way that Jorge Martin feels snubbed by Ducati for being left out of the factory team for 2023 even though he will have essentially the same bike – with different paint – as Bastianini and Bagnaia, VR46 would have reason to feel mistreated by Ducati for not receiving the latest equipment, even for one of their riders. 

When Andrea Dovizioso left Ducati at the end of 2020, he had the chance to stay but with pay that he felt did not respect his abilities, and which he felt reflected a lack of trust in him from Ducati. 

In a similar way, by not providing 2023 Desmosedicis, VR46 could consider that Ducati has reduced its commitment to them. Once that feeling begins, it rarely fades. 

At the same time, Valentino Rossi himself is, sort of, on the move.

Rossi will remain with WRT for 2023, the team with which he began his GT World Challenge Europe career this year. But, WRT will leave Audi, and join BMW.

The main reason for WRT leaving Audi – for whom they have run factory GT3-spec R8s for over 10 years  – and joining BMW is because BMW is making an LMDh prototype and Audi is not. 

The…