Valentino Rossi may be retiring this year, but we’ll definitely still feel his presence in the sport in the form of all his teams. We’re still going to see VR46 a lot on the entry lists and timing boards as motorcycle legend plans to enter all of the classes of motorcycle grand prix racing.
The VR46 plans to have four teams racing during the 2022 season. VR46 will be an official team in MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3.
For the premier class, MotoGP, the VR46 team will be entering the 2022 season using Ducati bikes. This will be the arrangement all the way until 2024. In addition, the team could also be racing with a new partner, Aramco, an energy company owned by the Saudi Prince.
Next up, VR46 will continue its efforts in Moto2, with two racing teams. The first of which will be the Aramco VR46 team, which has been finalized in partnership with the aforementioned Saudi oil manufacturer. Taking the seats will be current riders, Marco Bezzecchi and Celestino Vietti, for the 2022 season. The second Moto2 team will effectively be replacing Petronas SRT. The second VR46 team will be partnering with Yamaha and will be named as the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team.
Finally, in the Moto3 class, Rossi hopes to shine a spotlight on new talent with the Avinta VR46 Riders Academy team. As the name suggests, it will be the proving ground for students of the VR46 Academy seeking to carve a path to the premier class by going up the ranks. It’s a climb achieved by current MotoGP riders like Pecco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli. Rossi hopes to find and hone even more new talent through this new team.
As you already know, we also have our own bet currently competing in Euro Moto2, McKinley Kyle Paz. The hope is that his performance will be noticed within the VR46 family of racing teams and he might someday be given the chance to move up to Moto2 or even MotoGP.
