MotoGP News: What Ducati's Partnership With VR46 Team Means for Its 2025 Lineup

Starting with the 2025 MotoGP season, the VR46 Racing Team will take over from Pramac as Ducati's primary satellite squad as part of a multi-year agreement. This means VR46 will receive one GP25 MotoGP bike, leaving Ducati with just three units.

Apr 14, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Enea Bastianini (23) of Italy and Ducati Lenovo Team and Jorge Martin (89) of Spain and Prima Pramac Racing rides during the MotoGP Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Starting with the 2025 MotoGP season, the VR46 Racing Team will take over from Pramac as Ducati's primary satellite squad as part of a multi-year agreement. This means VR46 will receive one GP25 MotoGP bike, leaving Ducati with just three units of the 2025 motorcycle in its lineup.

Currently, Ducati fields eight bikes across four teams, with a mix of 2023 and 2024 models. Its partnership with Pramac set a new standard for factory support of satellite teams. However, next season, Ducati will have fewer latest-spec bikes on the grid than any other manufacturer, with Aprilia, KTM, Honda, and Yamaha providing their customer teams with 2025 versions of their designs, even if they differ from factory specs.

The reduction in Ducati’s fleet to three GP25 bikes marks a significant shift in the scale and impact of its MotoGP presence. Despite this reduction, the high performance of the 2024 Ducati, used by Morbidelli and the Gresini riders, may offset concerns. Given the strong performance of this year’s model, the GP25 might not represent as dramatic a step forward from the GP24.

Fabio Di Giannantonio is likely to receive the only 2025-spec Ducati provided to the VR46 team, while Franco Morbidelli, a VR46 Academy graduate returning to Rossi's team, will ride the previous year's model. Though this team configuration hasn't been announced, factory Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi hinted to French TV channel Canal+ about VR46's rider lineup for the next season.

VR46 team principal Uccio Salucci expressed immense pride in his team becoming Ducati’s primary satellite squad. He said in a statement:

"I couldn't be more proud to announce that next year the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will be the factory-supported Ducati team in MotoGP. We will have an official bike and a GP24. If someone had told me this a few years ago I wouldn't have believed it. 

“It's a truly significant moment for the whole team: achieving this result with such a young team, with so many Moto3 kids, in just three years is truly extraordinary.

“We have a few years of hard work ahead of us, of great challenges and we can't wait to put ourselves to the test to achieve ever more ambitious results."

Talking about the new association with VR46 Racing Team, the General Manager of Ducati Corse, Gigi Dall'Igna, said in a statement:

"From day one the VR46 Racing Team has shown that it knows how to work in perfect harmony with Ducati and in recent years we have achieved great results.

"We are happy to be able to further strengthen this relationship by giving the team 'factory' support starting next season. I am sure that together we can achieve great things. I thank Valentino, Uccio and Pablo and all the people who work with great passion and dedication in the team."