VR46 Ducati kicks off the 2026 MotoGP season with a new look and a proven rider duo – Rossi wants to finally see results after the ups and downs of 2025
Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team VR46 Ducati officially unveiled its colors and riders for the upcoming 2026 season today in the Italian capital Rome. The presentation at the magnificent Villa Miani was dominated by a new design chapter entitled “Black and Light.”
The team unveiled a fresh, significantly modified paint job for the Ducati Desmosedici GP. The redesign is based on a combination of striking fluorescent yellow with black accents, where white previously dominated.
“It’s a project we did together with Aldo Drudi,” explains team owner Rossi. “I think this is now the third season of our collaboration.”
“Three years ago, we designed the yellow bike with white. We decided to continue with that last year. But this year we wanted to change something: we’re keeping the yellow, but adding black, which has more of a racing character, and thus returning to our more classic colors to a certain extent.”
Di Giannantonio wants to use continuity to his advantage
As for the rider duo, everything will remain the same in 2026. Fabio Di Giannantonio will continue to race for VR46-Ducati in the 2026 season. The Italian has shown consistent progress in MotoGP in recent years and finished sixth in the overall standings in the 2025 season.
“This is my third year with the team,” says Diggia. “I hope to take another big step forward in my development over the course of the season and be able to fight at the front.”
“It’s very special to be starting again with the team and with the same crew as last year. For me, this is the first time in my MotoGP career that I’m continuing in this constellation, and it feels great.”
As in the previous year, he will be riding the current Ducati prototype and feels well prepared. “I have more experience, and the team also has more experience with this situation. I think I am more mature and better prepared to understand what works well for me on the bike and what doesn’t.”
Morbidelli sees room for improvement in 2026
Franco Morbidelli joined VR46-Ducati in 2025 and will continue the collaboration this season. The experienced Italian, who has been riding in MotoGP since 2018, celebrated his first podium finishes with the team last year and wants to build on that success.
“We now have another year of shared experience, and I’m sure that will pay off for us,” he says optimistically. “We will definitely speed up some of the processes that take place during a race weekend, and I have great confidence in the crew and the entire team.”
Morbidelli admits that there are a few things that need to be improved compared to last season. “Last year was positive overall, especially the first half of the season—a year in which we had some good results, some very good ones, but also a few bad ones. So there are things we need to improve.”
The Italian will once again ride last year’s Ducati model in 2026, even though VR46 had the option of a second current factory bike. However, the high cost of operating two of the latest machines and Morbidelli’s fluctuating performance led the team to forego this option.
Rossi sets goals for VR46 and the new season
The VR46 presentation comes during the busy MotoGP preparation phase: in the coming weeks, other teams will present their bikes and riders before the first test days at the beginning of February and the start of the season at the end of February.
Despite a somewhat mixed 2025 season without a victory, Ducati continues to show confidence and support for the VR46 project. Team owner Rossi assures: “We are ready, we are very optimistic, and the goal is to do better than last year. The past season was a rollercoaster ride.”
“But MotoGP is always very difficult anyway. It’s almost impossible for any team to stay at the top every weekend. That’s why I think our goal for this year can be to improve and be competitive everywhere.”
