MotoGP: VR46 Racing Team and Mooney reveal global partnership

More information has been released regarding the new partnership between Valentino Rossi’s new MotoGP team and Italian Proximity Banking & Payments company Mooney.

Team VR46 named Mooney as its new title sponsor last week, ending any potential association with the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco. The potential partnership between Rossi and Aramco was controversial, and was met which plenty of negativity when it was originally announced last April.

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When Team VR46 announced that they would run Ducati machinery, Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud publicly stated that he hoped Rossi would continue racing alongside brother Luca Marini in 2022. However, Rossi confirmed his retirement in August and doubts over the partnership began to surface, with Aramco even denying its involvement. In November, the provisional 2022 entry list saw the team named simply as VR46 Racing Team.

The new deal with Mooney, according to a statement released today (January 3), 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.”

The global partnership will see both brands come together on and off the track, whilst Mooney will also link-up with the VR46 Academy and any four-wheeled activities which Rossi takes part in following his retirement from bike racing.

“Linking the name of Mooney to such a prestigious brand as VR46 Racing Team is a real declaration of intent for our company which confirms itself as a protagonist in the field of payments and mobility services,” Mooney CEO, Emilio Petrone said.

“Speed, safety, innovation and the ability to adapt to the constantly evolving customer needs are common values shared by Mooney and VR46 Racing Team, which brings the Italian excellence, talent and technology around the world in some of the most competitive contexts of the sport.”

In the premier class, Marini will be joined by fellow VR46 Academy member Marco Bezzecchi, who has been promoted from the Moto2 team. Both riders will ride 2022-spec Ducati Desmocedicis. Meanwhile, in the team’s Moto2 garage Celestino Vietti and Niccolò Antonelli will be on the Kalex chassis.

“We are really proud of the path that led us to our MotoGP debut,” VR46 Team Director Alessio Salucci said. “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.”

Pablo Nieto will manage the team in MotoGP, while Luca Brivio has been promoted to Team Manager in Moto2.