Team Profile
The premier-class team in Rossi’s racing organisation
The VR46 team was founded by Valentino Rossi and takes its name from his iconic number 46. It began building its Grand Prix programme in 2014, progressing through Moto3 and Moto2 to the premier class. Francesco Bagnaia won the 2018 Moto2 world title within this organisation. Developing riders and building a professional racing operation have been the two strands of VR46’s growth.
In 2023, Marco Bezzecchi took VR46’s first premier-class Grand Prix victory in Argentina and finished third in the riders’ championship. The team subsequently strengthened its relationship with Ducati, becoming its factory-supported team from 2025 and gaining further technical and racing support while remaining independently operated.
Ducati support and the Desmosedici GP
VR46 runs the Ducati Desmosedici GP, with its factory-support agreement covering bike supply, technical support and racing cooperation. Fabio Di Giannantonio signed a Ducati agreement for 2025 to 2026, with official confirmation that he would use factory-specification machinery at VR46. This explains how a rider in an independent team can also be a focus of a manufacturer’s technical support.
VR46, the Ducati factory team and Gresini compete separately in the teams’ championship. Comparisons between the three should consider the specific platform each rider uses and the setup at each race weekend. The manufacturer provides a shared background, while team operations and bike specifications must still be understood separately.
The 2026 line-up and team organisation
The race riders are number 49 Fabio Di Giannantonio and number 21 Franco Morbidelli. The 2026 season is their third and second respectively with VR46. Continuing the partnership helps riders, engineers and mechanics apply their accumulated experience to preparations for the new season.
Rossi is the team owner, with Alessio Salucci as team director and Pablo Nieto as team manager. The 2026 bikes combine black with fluorescent yellow, maintaining VR46’s distinctive identity. That visual identity connects the team to Rossi’s racing organisation, while its competitive results are earned on track by the two current riders.
What to watch
Watch how Di Giannantonio extracts the potential of factory-specification machinery and whether Morbidelli can turn his growing familiarity with the team into consistent results. From a race-analysis perspective, VR46 also rewards attention to execution across the whole weekend: after a strong qualifying position, do the start, opening laps and tyre management preserve that advantage to the finish? Comparisons with the other two Ducati teams make those changes easier to identify.
Last checked: 1 October 2026 · Historical statistics and current points are maintained separately