Valentino Rossi and VR46 unveiled their new-look bike for the 2026 MotoGP season at a ceremony in Rome on Wednesday.
While Pramac mostly stuck to the same livery that started the MotoGP season, VR46 They changed their color scheme. The fluorescent yellow remains but the ‘stylish’ white gives way to ‘aggressive’ black.
VR46 scored 13 podiums in 44 races last season, finishing third in the team standings. But Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli were the only Ducati riders not to win a race.
What do you think of the VR46 2026 livery?
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All three wins came in the 2023 season through Marco Bezecchi, who has since joined Aprilia. The VR46 received a factory-spec GP25 from Ducati last year, developed exclusively by Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguerre on Gresini’s two-year-old bikes.
Valentino Rossi said the VR46 should be more consistent this year.
Rossi’s ability to attend races and team events has been limited by his commitment to sports cars, but he was present in the Italian capital on Wednesday.
He made it clear that he expects victories from the riders this year. D. Giannantonio rides the GP26, while Rossi rejected the factory bike for Morbidelli.
The MotoGP legend said there were a lot of fluctuations in his team’s performance last year. For example, there were five Grands Prix where both bikes missed out on the top six.
Where should Valentino Rossi take his VR46 team in 2027?
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“We’ve had a lot of good results, a lot of podiums.” Rossi he said. “First we want to try to win the race, when you win it’s always different, it’s better than the podium.
We have to work together with the riders, the team to improve our performance everywhere, we had many ups and downs during the season.
The main target is to try to be competitive in each circuit every weekend.
Pablo Nieto’s message for Ducati Consider options like the VR46
There is a possibility that this could be the last season of the VR46 on Ducati bikes. Rumors swirling during the winter that Rossi is considering other options.
VR46 had a conversation with ApriliaWhile a producer on the rise Rossi is in ‘non-stop’ talks with Yamaha. On the fairy partnership.
Ducati has remained the dominant team in MotoGP since the VR46 entered the class, but that status is under threat, especially with 2027 rule changes looming. Luigi Daliagna, Davide Tardozzi and Mauro Gracili were in the audience in Rome.
“First of all we have to say thank you to Ducati, Gigi, Mauro, David,” said team manager Pablo Nieto. We couldn’t do this project without them.
There are also whispers that Rossi VR46 is open for sale. If the right offer comes along, then this could be the last start they own, certainly on current form.
