VR46 is today a brand platform with three legs: the MotoGP team (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, to which Ducati has renewed factory-supported status until 2029), the academy of young riders and the products carrying the brand and the number 46. Among those sponsoring it are Pertamina as title sponsor since 2024 and eBay as official marketplace since June 2023.

Updated in October 2026.

Valentino Rossi stopped racing at the end of 2021, with nine world titles, and since then the question around his name has always been the same: is the Doctor bigger than MotoGP? The honest answer, in 2026, is that the question has changed. Rossi is no longer at the centre of the championship, but the VR46 brand is: it has a stable team, sponsors who come back and a model that works even when the riders change. Here you will find how the platform is built, what it means for those who sponsor and where the risk lies.

What VR46 is today

The team was born in 2014 in Tavullia, in the Marche region, with the declared aim of growing young Italian talent in the junior classes: in 2018 Francesco Bagnaia won the Moto2 title with the team. The step up to MotoGP came in 2022, with Mooney as title sponsor (2022-2023); since 2024 the name has been that of Pertamina Enduro, an Indonesian oil company. On 3 July 2026 the team renewed its agreement with Ducati until the 2029 season: since 2025 it has had Factory Supported Team status, with two Desmosedici GP bikes, one of official specification updated during the year and one standard. In 2026 the riders are Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

The biggest name in the team, or the biggest team behind the name?

The underlying thesis, at the time of the eBay agreement, was that such a strong name could overshadow the team and hold back new sponsors. The facts point the other way. After eBay (official marketplace since June 2023) came Pertamina as title sponsor and the renewal with Ducati until 2029, and the team has shown it can withstand rider changes: Marco Bezzecchi, three MotoGP wins with the team in 2023, moved to Aprilia; Di Giannantonio will go to KTM in 2027, and in his place comes Fermín Aldeguer, on a contract for 2027 and 2028 on a factory Desmosedici.

The scheme is this: the rider rotates, the brand stays. It is what distinguishes a platform from a sponsorship of a person, and the difference matters when choosing where to invest. Anyone who wants to understand how the two roads compare will find the rider profiles, including Di Giannantonio and Aldeguer, in the best MotoGP riders of 2026 and a comparison by objective in MotoGP 2026: which rider should you sponsor?.

What a sponsor can buy

Around VR46 there are three levels.

• Title sponsor. The name on the team, like Mooney until 2023 and Pertamina since 2024: it is the level that puts the brand in every shot, with a multi-year commitment.
• Official partner. A product or service category, like eBay’s marketplace, with the brand on bikes and leathers.
• Products and collections. The VR46 brand and the number 46 on clothing and merchandise, which carry the value of the name beyond the races.

For a brand starting from zero, the point is not the highest level but the one consistent with the objective: the costs and thresholds are in the guide to MotoGP sponsorship costs, while those who want a MotoGP sponsorship will find the full picture of how it works.

Where the risk lies

VR46’s strength is also its dependence: the platform holds because there is a name, and because behind it there is a supplier, Ducati, which in 2027 will have to face, like everyone, the change of regulations. For a sponsor this means reading two things together: the solidity of the brand, which is high, and the competitive position of the team, which depends on the bike. In 2027 the bikes move to 850 cc and the single tyre supplier moves to Pirelli, and this may redraw the hierarchies of the whole grid.

Sources: MotoGP.com, VR46 Ducati-supported team until 2029; MotoGP.com, Aldeguer at VR46 from 2027; Wikipedia, VR46 Racing Team; MotoGP.com, Mooney title sponsor of VR46; Crash.net, VR46’s new title sponsor; MotoGP.com, the 2027 rider line-up.