The VR46 riders Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi keep in regular contact with Valentino Rossi, even when he is not on site with his team, as he was in Qatar
The 2022 MotoGP season, which begins this weekend with the Qatar Grand Prix in Losail, will be the first season in the premier class of the motorbike world championship since 1999 in which Valentino Rossi is not on the grid. What’s more, the crowd favourite from Italy will not be on site at all on the Qatar weekend.
Do the VR46 riders miss Rossi’s presence in the pits? “Honestly I think the feeling on the track and also in the pits will be the same as always,” said Marini, explaining, “You’re just so busy with your work and you have to fully concentrate on what needs to be done all day. So in that respect it will be the same as always. “
“But what will definitely be a change,” Rossi’s half-brother continues, “will be the European races. Because that’s where all the riders from the VR46 Academy used to meet in [Rossi’s] motorhome. That was a central point for all of us to talk about topics like the track, the conditions, the tyres, but also sometimes about other things away from motorsport. “
“It’s a bit of a shame in that respect. I just hope now that we can find another place where we can all get together,” says Marini, admitting that he keeps in touch with Rossi “every day, because this team is now his own project. “
While Marini faces his second MotoGP season after completing his rookie season for Esponsorama in 2021, teammate Bezzecchi is making his debut in the premier class with the VR46 team. And he can hardly wait.
“It’s very special, of course, because he’s always been my idol, my favourite rider, my inspiration,” Bezzecchi says of Rossi, who is his boss, at least on paper, although he won’t be at every race in person. No less than seven of the ten races on the 2022 GTWC calendar overlap with the 2022 MotoGP calendar. Apart from that, Rossi will become a father for the first time in a few weeks.
“I am very proud and very happy to ride for this team,” Bezzecchi confesses and reveals: “Yesterday I was still writing messages with Vale. He is also very happy. Honestly, I can’t wait for it to start now.”
