Mooney VR46 Racing team director Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci says he is wary of 2023 MotoGP title contender Marco Bezzecchi swapping to Pramac for next season and is therefore petitioning Ducati to direct more support its way.
Bezzecchi has emerged as the standout performer of the season thus far with wins in Argentina and France placing him just a single point off the overall lead held by factory Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia after five grands prix.
Only his second season in MotoGP, the Italian - who was the highest-placed of five rookies making their MotoGP debut in 2022 - currently competes on the year-old Ducati GP22, raising speculation that he might be upgraded to the on-spec GP24 next year as a reward for his success.
However, Ducati has signalled reluctance to stretch its resources by supplying current machinery beyond its factory and closest satellite arm, Pramac Racing.
With this in mind, VR46 fears Bezzecchi could be tempted away by a rival team - with Yamaha a potential destination - or he is ported into Pramac, a situation Salucci says would make him ‘crazy’.
“I have already spoken to Dall’Igna a couple of times and I told him that I would like him to stay in VR46 with a factory bike and a direct contract with Ducati,” Salucci told GPOne.
“I’ve seen hard and fast in this sport, I’m not worried. I would expect Ducati to leave Marco for another year in our team, I would like them to give us the support to continue with him.
“Our team works to ensure our riders can go to the official one, the project was made for that.
“It would not be right for us or for him to keep Bezzecchi for his entire career. But we don’t work for other satellite teams, so if Ducati wanted to put him at Pramac, the idea would drive me crazy.
“We took Marco to MotoGP when everyone told me I was crazy, now that he’s going strong I would like to have some support.”
Ducati still upgrading GP22 MotoGP package
Despite this, Salucci says VR46 Racing enjoys a fruitful relationship with Ducati, even receiving upgrades to its comparatively ageing package even now.
“We have a technical package thanks to Gigi and Ducati, which works very well. We have last year’s bikes which are super tested and our riders really like the, plus Gigi always gives us something.
“Even at Mugello we’ll have an updated technical package. As of today, we are demonstrating that a satellite team can be there and fight for the championship.”
In addition to Bezzecchi nibbling at Bagnaia’s heels in the riders’ reckoning, VR46 Racing moved to the top of the 2023 MotoGP Teams’ Championship standings for the first time at Le Mans.
CLICK HERE to view the latest 2023 MotoGP World Championship standings.
