Pertamina oil company from Indonesia will serve as Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Racing team’s title sponsor from the 2024 MotoGP World Championship.
VR46 satellite Ducati team has confirmed that it will be sponsored by the state-backed company Pertamina in place of the Italian banking firm Mooney, for the next three MotoGP campaigns.
The team will officially identify itself as the “Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team” for the upcoming season, when it will once again field Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini on Ducati machines.
The sponsorship deal represents a boost in commitment from Pertamina, which has been making a bigger impression in the MotoGP paddock by sponsoring the Indonesian MotoGP, which is taking place this weekend.
Pertamina also serves as the title sponsor of the SAG Racing Team in Moto2.
The team’s currently operational contract with Ducati, which comes to an end at the conclusion of 2024 MotoGP season, is not covered by the original title partnership arrangement, that runs for 2024, 2025, and 2026. It’s no secret that Yamaha wants VR46 to serve as its future satellite team.
“Welcoming Pertamina Lubricants, which for the next three seasons will be the title partner of the VR46 Racing Team, marks in a crucial way the history of our team, an important piece and a further step forward in achieving our goals,” said VR46 team director Alessio Salucci.
“We are truly honoured to have entered into an agreement with a brand of this kind in the world of motorsport. With this new synergy, we not only share common ambitions, but we combine the two largest and most loyal fan bases in MotoGP.
“A bridge between the Italian fans and all those who follow us from Indonesia and to whom we hope to give important satisfactions in the future.
“This long-term project between two companies so experienced in the world of motorcycling and competitions, such as VR46 Racing Team and Pertamina Lubricants, aims to bring true passion for this sport from a unique point of view to hundreds of thousands of fans all around the world.
“In 2024, a new era of our history in MotoGP starts, an adventure full of successes, which began only two years ago, and which would not have been possible without the support and participation of a partner like Mooney who I would like to thank personally for mutual trust and respect.”
There are rumors that Rossi’s four-wheel racing activities will be supported by Pertamina, the official sponsor of this weekend’s Indonesian MotoGP at Mandalika.