Valentino Rossi ‘s VR46 Team Receives Extraordinary Offer from Yamaha, 2025 Leave Ducati?

RiderTua.com – Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team could break away from Ducati at the end of the 2024 MotoGP season. The extraordinary offer coming from Yamaha is a bit tempting. If starting next year Ducati is ‘prohibited’ from fielding 8 bikes, then the Gresini and VR46 satellite teams will have to look for another manufacturer in the future. Yamaha is trying to have a satellite team and will have full support from Dorna. Additionally, drivers’ salaries also need to be limited, which is why some top brass may choose to change manufacturers in the upcoming transfer window.

By fielding eight bikes on the track, four official specs and four GP23s last year, Ducati will again have the largest squad of the five brands in the 2024 MotoGP season. Pramac will remain the number 1 satellite team in the long term and will practically represent the second official team . Gresini has extended its contract until the end of 2025, so VR46 can still negotiate with other manufacturers. Valentino Rossi’s team contract will expire at the end of the 2024 championship and his future is uncertain. “We talked a lot with Ducati, with Dall’Igna,” stressed sporting director Alessio Salucci…

Valentino Rossi ‘s VR46 Team Receives an Extraordinary Offer from Yamaha

There were also discussions in the paddock during the Qatar race weekend. “Maybe we will find the right way to sign it soon. I asked Ducati something. We are quite close… But there are also signs that the cooperation will end soon. In a recent interview with Sky Sport MotoGP, Gigi Dall’Igna revealed that it will be difficult… for Ducati to keep all the team next year (8 bikes)… Other manufacturers are pushing to have satellite teams. They also have the opportunity to offer big discounts because they receive bonus payments from the organizers /Dorna when they manage satellite teams.”

VR46 may be tempted by Yamaha’s excellent economy offer and receive two factory bikes from next year, although it is difficult to move from the dominant Ducati to the M1 which is still late in the evolution. New sporting director Mauro Grassilli, who this year took over from Paolo Ciabatti, is now responsible for negotiations with the satellite teams. Ducati is in talks with VR46 to expand their collaboration. But it wasn’t easy, he said.

And he emphasized that there was a tempting offer from Yamaha, which Valentino Rossi’s team had been chasing for a long time. And what does Alessio Salucci think about a possible deal between VR46 and Yamaha? “I don’t know…” he answered while laughing at Qatar. VR46 wants the bike problem to be resolved as soon as possible so they can focus on rider problems for next year.

New riders have cheaper salaries

Winter testing and the start of the new MotoGP season show that 2024 will also be a dedicated year for Ducati. The Italian manufacturer hopes to again make a difference on the track by relying on very competitive bikes and a high level line-up of riders, especially because Honda and Yamaha are lagging behind and Aprilia and KTM bikes have not been consistent in all conditions and on all circuits. This starting point allows Ducati to overcome one of the biggest challenges at the company level: reducing rider salary expenditure. Despite its great success in the premier class, the Borgo Panigale company has a sales volume of around 60 thousand models per year, a figure that is far from that of Japanese brands.

The renewal of Pecco Bagnaia with an estimated salary of around 7 million euros plus bonuses, encourages us to review the figures of other Ducati riders. The person who best embodies Ducati’s new philosophy is Fermin Aldeguer… who already has a pre-contract with the Pramac team, with a maximum salary of 300,000 euros, to which the amount will be added depending on results. In similar conditions, Jorge Martin could be tempted by better economic offers coming from foreign manufacturers, as could Marc Marquez. Can the two Spanish riders sacrifice some of their income to continue riding the most competitive bikes in MotoGP?