It will be a busy week in the build-up to the first track action of 2022 at the Official Test in Malaysia with, at the moment, no less than three teams having their launch. The week will start with Pramac Racing on Wednesday February 2nd, before the reigning MotoGP™ World Champions, Monster Energy Yamaha, begin their defence of the 2021 crown on February 4th. Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli will speak live from the Sepang International Circuit ahead of the opening day of the Official Test.
Sprint Filter, the leading supplier for performance air filters in MotoGP™, is joining forces with the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup from 2022. A new three-year agreement will see the pioneering company manufacture bespoke air filters for the field of Honda NSF250R machinery in the ATC, ensuring maximum performance for one of the biggest paths on the Road to MotoGP™.
However, where El Diablo finished didn’t matter in the end. All that mattered was that he was the new MotoGP™ World Champion – and the celebrations commenced. Marc Marquez went on to win his third race of the season, this one the biggest yet, as Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) grabbed his best premier class result in P2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) picked up another Misano podium to continue his Rookie of the Year charge, as Rossi claimed a top 10 to say goodbye to his adoring home crowd.
The Aussie wasn’t the only rider in the Ducati camp to stand on a rostrum over the winter, with Luca Marini (VR46 Racing Team), alongside Valentino Rossi, retaining their title at the 100km dei Campioni at The Doctor’s Ranch. The Italian also featured in the Gulf 12 Hour race, claiming another podium there alongside Alessio Salucci and David Fumanelli in the ProAm class.
They were joined on track by the 2021 Moto3™ World Champion Pedro Acosta, who’s gearing up for his debut season in the Moto2™ class, and 2020 Moto3™ World Champion Albert Arenas. In an image that we will surely see in MotoGP™ in years to come, Acosta and Martin got a little too close from comfort as they both eyed each other up.
The eight-time World Champion was able to dominate proceedings on a track he’s been pretty much untouchable at ever since we first visited Austin in 2013. The number 93 went on to claim his seventh win in Texas, his second of the season. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) took another giant step towards the title by finishing P2, 4.6s off Marquez, with Bagnaia falling back to over 50 points behind the Frenchman with a third place finish.
That first MotoGP™ victory in Aragon certainly got the ball rolling for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). As they say: there’s no place like home. And at the San Marino GP, held as always at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Pecco picked up his second 25-point haul of the season.
VR46 recently announced the new Title Sponsor for the VR46 Racing Team: Mooney, the first Italian Proximity Banking & Payments company. It is a global partnership that will see two leading companies in their fields united on and off tracks, in the name of important shared values such as: excellence, talent, speed, made in Italy and safety.
The Mooney VR46 Racing Team will have its beating heart in Tavullia with four young Italian riders on the starting grid of the 2022 season: Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi in MotoGP on Ducati bikes, together with Celestino Vietti Ramus and Niccolò Antonelli in Moto2 on Kalex bikes.
Mooney VR46 Racing Team
The agreement provides for an extensive collaboration that will create joint business activities, marketing and communication initiatives, with the aim of creating added value through advanced fintech services and payment systems offered by Mooney also on its capillary network of over 45 thousand sales points throughout Italy.
Valentino Rossi
“I am happy to have at our side from the upcoming season an Italian company like Mooney, leader in the field of proximity payments and with we share the strategy of developing the young Italian talents together with the research for a constant improvement in the performance” – said Valentino Rossi, Team Owner – “Mooney, in addition to being the Title Sponsor of our Team in the MotoGP and Moto2 World Championship, will also join us the VR46 Riders Academy and in my first four wheels racing season”.
Valentino Rossi
The upcoming season is around the corner for a Team that has grown from Moto3 until landing in MotoGP. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team will make its debut in the top class thanks to the inexhaustible passion of its Team Owner, Valentino Rossi, together with the Team Director Alessio Salucci and the CFO Alberto Tebaldi.
Alessio Salucci – Team Director
“We are really proud of the path that led us to our MotoGP debut. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team will be nothing more than the evolution of the project started, almost eight seasons ago with the partnership with Sky Italia that led us to conquer the Championship in 2018, the title among the Teams in 2020 and being now a Team of reference in the lower categories of the Championship. We have chosen the right people, animated by the same commitment and passion. Our riders have the potential to achieve something great and keep us entertained. We are confident that we will soon reach the level of the most competitive teams. A common goal also in Moto2 where we want to remain one of the reference teams in the category’’.
Alessio Salucci
Pablo Nieto will be the Team Manager of the MotoGP crew while Luca Brivio is promoted to Team Manager in Moto2. In MotoGP, working on the Ducati bikes, we will meet again David Muñoz, crew chief alongside Luca Marini, Matteo Flamigni who will follow Marco Bezzecchi in his rookie season and Idalio Gavira as coach and head of tires strategy.
In Moto2, Roberto Locatelli is confirmed as coach for the young riders of the intermediate class together with Jairo Carriles in charge for the crew of Celestino Vietti Ramus while Danilo Angeli as crew chief of Niccolò Antonelli’s Team.
Heading to MotorLand Aragon, after claiming victory at Silverstone, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was 65 points clear in the title chase. But Aragon has never been a happy playground for the Frenchman, and 2021 wasn’t much different.
TRACK LIMITS: Those dreaded two words! During Free Practice and qualifying, riders lap times are disqualified if they exceed track limits. Green areas on the outside of the asphalt can’t be used to gain an advantage, and if a rider does so too many times during a race, Race Direction will penalise them.
