Yamaha will try to do everything to get Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team on its side in the 2024 MotoGP season. Lin Jarvis he never hid the “coup”, after all there is already a collaboration with VR46 in Moto2 and the relationship with the Doctor is long-standing, from 2004 until his retirement in 2021 with four world titles won together. With the exception of the 2011-2012 two-year period in Ducati, at the time without fruit, but now the Ducati of Borgo Panigale is a top-level power, capable of winning and dominating in the premier class and SBK. This time it will be difficult to turn one’s back on the Emilian brand to embrace the Japanese giant, with the team Mooney VR46 happily linked to Ducati. When the Tavullia-based team orchestrated by Alessio Salucci, Valentino Rossi and Pablo Nieto decided to go to MotoGP, they began consultations with the various brands. At the time, the Iwata manufacturer had a contract in progress with Razlan Razali’s RNF team… Now that the partnership is off, Lin Jarvis is assiduously courting the VR46 lineup…
Ducati locks down Valentino Rossi’s team
But Ducati is keen to respect the three-year contract with the team Valentino Rossi, firmly determined to line up eight bikes on the grid also in the next two years of MotoGP. “We have a contract and obligation with VR46 and this contract will run until the end of 2024“, assured the sporting director Paolo Ciabatti to Speedweek.com. “I can’t predict what will happen next, everything is open. The VR46 team is made up of very serious people, the riders are happy with the Desmosedici bikes. The results they get prove it. I feel sorry for Yamaha…“.There Desmosedici GP it proved to be the best bike on the grid, also allowing the rookies to get poles (Fabio Di Giannantonio at Mugello) and podiums (Marco Bezzecchi at Assen). But preserving eight bikes for a long time won’t be easy. Some manufacturers, like KTM, have shown some opposition in the MSMA meetings. A situation that Paul Ciabatti he knows well that he will not be able to sustain for long. “I understand that playing with four teams is not an ideal situation in the medium to long term“, added the Ducati Corse sports director. “After all, Suzuki didn’t have a satellite team planned when we made the agreements with Rossi and Gresini. In the meantime it got even worse, they withdrew as a factory team. And Aprilia perhaps wasn’t so attractive a year ago… I can’t say anything about the Yamaha. Only they had a satellite team and lost it“.
