In an impressive debut campaign in the premiere MotoGP class last season where they finished eighth in the teams’ standings, the VR46 Racing Team secured their first-ever podium finish as well.
The Valentino Rossi-led side have been on an upward trajectory ever since joining the Moto3 category back in 2014. They won the 2018 Moto2 Riders’ Championship with Francesco Bagnaia and also won the 2020 Moto2 Teams’ Championship before making the jump to MotoGP in 2022.
Both Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi put on display their potential ceiling while also highlighting the VR46 Racing bike’s power and agility, with both riders featuring high on the timesheet chart in qualifying and during the races throughout the season.
However, the biggest talk from the first pre-season testing session was Luca Marini topping the timesheets. Can Rossi’s team cement themselves as front-runners, or is this just another false dawn?
In this article, we look at the VR46 Racing Team’s official sponsors ahead of the 2023 MotoGP season.
Mooney, the first Italian proximity banking and payments company, became the title sponsor of the VR46 Racing Team ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season. As per the agreement, the team were renamed “Mooney VR46 Racing Team”.
Barracuda is a market leader among accessories and design components for motorcycles. Started as an innovative project in 2002 on the outskirts of Florence, Italy, Barracuda has since become one of the frontiers of design by offering the best technical solutions.
Ahead of the upcoming 2023 MotoGP season, the VR46 Racing Team have announced Barracuda as one of their official sponsors.
IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles.
IVECO first collaborated with the Sky Racing VR46 Team, as they were known at the time, in 2014, when they were competing in the junior Moto3 category. IVECO served them as a technical sponsor.
IVECO has been a constant feature in the MotoGP world since 2002.
RCB, formerly known as Racing Boy, first partnered with the Sky Racing VR46 Team in 2014. The Malaysian motorcycle parts and accessories supplier has been serving them as an official sponsor since then.
As part of the agreement, the RCB logo features on both the VR46 riders’ racing suits and bikes.
Fassi Gru manufactures and markets cranes. Established in 1965, the company provides hydraulic, articulated boom, lorry mounted, truck mounted, and loader cranes.
Ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season, Fassi Gru renewed its ties with VR46 Racing ahead of their debut season in the premiere MotoGP class.
As per the terms of the agreement, Fassi Gru has its logo featured on the tail of the Ducati and KTM bikes for the MotoGP and Moto2 championships, respectively.
Cupra is a high-performance motorsport subsidiary of Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985. In 2018, SEAT created the Cupra brand as its own independent branch, and SEAT Sport was officially replaced by Cupra Racing.
In 2021, Cupra first signed a deal with Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy before signing a three-year deal with the VR46 Racing Team ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season.
As per the terms of the agreement, the Cupra logo features on the team’s motorbikes, helmets, racing suits and official uniform for both the MotoGP and Moto2 world championships.
Monster Energy, a prominent name in the world of motorsports, became the official sponsor of the VR46 Racing Team ahead of the 2022 MotoGP season.
Monster Energy was already the title sponsor of the factory Yamaha MotoGP Racing Team. The addition of the VR46 Racing Team to its sponsorship roster is primarily down to the company’s close ties with Valentino Rossi, a former Yamaha rider.
Monster Energy sponsors the team in both the MotoGP and Moto2 championships.
Following the conclusion of the 2022 MotoGP season summer break, VR46 Racing returned to the grid with a new official sponsor in the form of Sisal Tipster. This marked the sports analysis community’s foray into the world of motorcycle racing.
As per the terms of the agreement, Sisal Tipster has a double presence across both the MotoGP and Moto2 categories.
In 2021, Fila joined forces with VR46 Riders Academy to aid the young riders progress through the ranks to the top of MotoGP. In 2022, it signed another deal with the VR46 Racing Team, becoming their official sponsor on a three-year deal.
Fila was an active name in the MotoGP paddock during the early 2000s. However, the company later decided to pursue opportunities in other sports. Its deal with the VR46 Racing Team showcased the company’s intent to re-enter the world of two-wheeler motorsports.
Czech travel portal Flymeto became an official sponsor as well as the logistics partner of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team in 2022.
The three-year agreement entails sharing of know-how for the best management of the team’s logistics services during the 21-GP calendar, which sees the team travel to 17 countries across five continents this year.
The Flymeto logo is present on the team’s pilot suits as well as their official images and communications.
Dainese is an Italian manufacturer of protective equipment and technical gear for dynamic sports, including motorcycling, mountain biking, winter sports, and horse riding.
Following Investcorp acquiring a majority stake in the company in 2014, Dainese dipped its toes in the market of elite motorsport by becoming an official sponsor of the Sky Racing VR46 Team that same year. Since then, it has been a loyal ally of the team, acting as one of their official sponsors as well as their official protective equipment and safety gear supplier.
Similar to Dainese, AGV (Amisano Gino Valenza), an Italian motorcycle helmet manufacturer active in motorcycle sports, became the official helmet sponsor of the Sky Racing VR46 Team in 2014.
As per the agreement, AGV provides its helmets to the VR46 Racing Team riders in both the MotoGP and Moto2 categories.
Having taken on the role of the sole tyre supplier for the premier class back in 2016, Michelin has played a key role in creating some of the closest competition in the championship’s history, with 10 of the closest top 15 finishes of all time having occurred since 2018.
Michelin was set to remain as the official MotoGP tyre supplier only until the end of the 2023 season with its former contract, but a renewal of terms has since extended that coverage to the 2024, 2025 and 2026 world championship seasons as well.
Slovenian exhaust system manufacturer Akrapovi? became the Sky Racing VR46 Team’s official sponsor back in 2014 and will continue to do so this coming season.
Established in 1933, Daido Kogyo, also known as D.I.D., is a Japanese company that specialises in manufacturing motorcycle and automobile chains, parts, industrial machinery parts, and much more.
D.I.D. is currently a chain and accessory supplier to the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Racing Team.
Founded in 1929 as a small company of electricians on the initiative of Stefano Comoli and Paolo Ferrari, Comoli Ferrari is an Italian company that distributes solutions for plant engineering.
Comoli Ferrari became an official sponsor of the VR46 Racing Team in 2018 — the year they won the Moto2 Riders’ Championship with Francesco Bagnaia.
Schuler is a manufacturer of special trailer-based vehicles in the fields of motorsport, promotion, hospitality and motorhomes. The company plans and constructs mobile transport and space solutions that require efficient use of space and quick assembly and disassembly.
In August 2022, the Mooney VR46 Racing Team announced Schuler Trucks as their new trailer supplier.
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