MOONEY VR46 RACING TEAM: THE TENTH SEASON
Tenth year on track for the Team from Tavullia, the second in the Top class, with Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi ready on the starting grid – the next March 26th in Portugal – on the Ducati Desmosedici GP.
Milan (Italy), March 6th 2023 – Zero hour has arrived: the Mooney VR46 Racing Team presents its tenth season in the Championship, the second in MotoGP with Ducati and alongside Mooney, the Italian proximity fintech active in the payment, banking and mobility field, after a of growth that has seen the Team from Tavullia among the protagonists in the lower classes, from 2014, up to the Top class. A first season to pick up the rhythms and a winning recipe: two young riders, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, among the most talented in the Italian nursery, an enthusiastic working group and the ability to involve fans from all over the world, as told in the short film published on the social media channels of the Team.
231 points achieved in its debut season in MotoGP, a podium, a pole position, the title of Rookie of the Year, many placements in the Top10 and a solid and growing finish to aim high in 2023. A close-knit team, at work under the watchful eyes of its Team Owner, Valentino Rossi, led once again by Alessio Salucci, Team Director and Pablo Nieto, Team Manager. A technical package of the highest level, which bears the Made in Italy signature of Ducati, the World Champion motorcycle in 2022. Luca Marini, in his third year in MotoGP, is ready to achieve ambitious goals after an impressive preseason together with Marco Bezzecchi who does not hide and is aiming for the best result right from the first race in Portugal on March 26th.
All valid premises, together with the new sprint race and weekend formula, for a truly stunning 2023 that also find expression in the new graphic layout created and designed by the VR46 graphics department. A look of continuity with the past and then the total black for special occasions. The Team’s fluorescent yellow mixes perfectly with Mooney’s ocher yellow for an aesthetically captivating balance with a rock soul. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team is ready on the starting grid to bring values such as excellence, innovation, talent and Italian spirit to the tracks all over the world. The collaboration between Mooney and VR46 Racing Team has already given birth to huge activations dedicated to a consumer and business audience, with the aim of offering an increasingly large costumers – in an omnichannel logic – advanced banking, payment and mobility services.
Informal atmosphere which also characterises this morning’s appointment in the racing and elegant setting of the CUPRA Garage in Milan, Corso Como 1. Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, together with Alessio Salucci and Pablo Nieto, greeted partners and journalists before leaving for the last test of the MotoGP preseason in Portimao. Off track opportunity to meet all those who work and support this project, first of all, Mooney, present in the person of its Chief Executive Officer, Emilio Petrone together with the General Manager Salvatore Borgese.
LUCA MARINI – 10
“I am very satisfied with the off season, the bike is really fast and competitive and I also like the new graphics, all black. I’d say we’re close to the perfection. In Malaysia, the race pace was good, the flying lap simulation was fantastic and we are satisfied. We can fight for the Top5 every weekend, we just have to try to make the most of our potential in the first GPs. With our “spec” we are further ahead on the setting than perhaps the factory team riders who have to develop the new bikes. We have prepared at 100% this Championship even if, with the sprint race on Saturday and then the race on Sunday, we don’t know what to expect. Strategy and qualifying will be crucial: over such a short distance, many riders will be still able to fight with the soft tire”.
MARCO BEZZECCHI – 72
“I liked last season’s bike a lot, but with the all-black version we’ve put one gear more! I’m happy with the testing sessions, I feel good on the new bike and I immediately felt the difference. The connection with the gas is the clearest thing, compared to the previous bike, and then also the aerodynamic package. It will be tough with two races in the same weekend, at least at the beginning, even just understanding how to manage the body. I want to win my first race, that’s the goal. We start with a technical package that is already set up, competitive and fast. We are ready, perhaps more than the official riders, at the beginning I mean. Then they will definitely arrive, we have to take the most of it now”.
VALENTINO ROSSI, TEAM OWNER
“I expect a great 2023 from the Mooney VR46 Racing Team. Last year we made our debut in MotoGP after so many years in Moto3 and Moto2 and it was a fantastic season. We were fast, even though the Team was a new one. The guys did a great job, fighting for the podium and the front positions on several occasions. This continues to be our goal also for 2023. We have two very fast and more experienced riders, I hope they can make another step forward to get their first victory and conquer as many podiums as possible. Luca is in his third season in MotoGP and I expect a lot from him. He has made great steps forward in 2022, he has grown a lot and has come close to the podium several times: he deserved it. In the testing sessions he was very fast and he is competitive. Marco can do well too, in his rookie year in MotoGP, which is difficult for everyone, he was very good. He hit the podium in Assen and did many races with the fastest guys till the end. He has to continue like this and can improve to be even faster in his second year in the top class”.
ALESSIO SALUCCI, TEAM DIRECTOR
“We are leaving behind a demanding year, but one that has given us great satisfaction and we are ready to face another season, the tenth for the Team in the Championship, the second in the MotoGP. It is a source of great pride for all of us because we have seen Luca and Marco grow over the years and today they bring our colors up, together with those of Mooney, in the Top class. The level is very high, the new racing formula it will be challenging for everyone, but I’m sure the Team will leave nothing to chance, as will do our partners, first of all Mooney and Ducati, who continue to support us to the maximum of their possibilities for achieving important goals”.
PABLO NIETO, TEAM MANAGER
“It will be perhaps the most spectacular and hard-fought MotoGP season ever: fast riders, bikes of the highest technological level and the sprint race. It will be crucial to have a close-knit Team behind you and capable of teaming up to better face all the unknowns. We have only one year of experience, but we look forward to 2023 confident that we have a solid and competitive technical package, thanks to the support of Ducati, two riders, Luca and Marco, who impressed in the season finale together with a working group, which I am very proud of”.
EMILIO PETRONE, CEO DI MOONEY
“We are excited to be also in 2023 alongside the fantastic Team founded by Valentino Rossi to reach great sporting and business goals together. This year MooneyGo also joins the partnership, our 360-degree mobility app, opening the way to even more ambitious future projects. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team is fast, innovative, full of talent and has great ambitions”.
SALVATORE BORGESE, GENERAL MANAGER DI MOONEY
“The VR46 card is the entrance door to a world made of exclusive advantages and personalized services that cannot be missing in the portfolios of any motorcycling fans and of all those who wish to use a technologically advanced payment tool. A unique product that combines versatility, comfort and safety and exclusive advantages, participation in exclusive events or competitions, travel assistance, help in the event of an accident, purchasing protection, as well as the Special Edition Cap branded VR46 given as a gift with the activation of the card”.
