The team was created in direct response to the dominance of Spanish riders in Grand Prix racing in the early 2010s. Rossi, wanting to provide a structured pathway for Italian talent, established the VR46 program to take promising riders through the junior classes with professional infrastructure and the mentorship that his own career had benefited from. By the time the team reached the MotoGP class, it had already developed riders who would become champions at multiple levels.
As of 2026, the team has accumulated 32 race wins — nine in Moto3, nineteen in Moto2, and four in MotoGP — along with one riders' championship (Francesco Bagnaia in Moto2 in 2018) and one teams' championship (Moto2 in 2020).
VR46 entered the Moto3 World Championship in 2014 under the name Sky Racing Team VR46 with Romano Fenati and the then-teenage Francesco Bagnaia. Fenati scored four wins in the debut season and finished fifth in the standings. The team went through several rider combinations over the following years, developing talent including Nicolò Bulega, Andrea Migno, Celestino Vietti, and Dennis Foggia.
The Moto3 program delivered consistent competitive results. Vietti scored two race wins in 2020 alongside Andrea Migno, and the team finished third in the Moto3 teams' championship. VR46 exited Moto3 after 2020, citing a limited pool of suitable Italian talent given the concentration of Italian Moto3 programs already in the paddock.
The team expanded into Moto2 in 2017, immediately demonstrating its development credentials. Bagnaia finished fifth in the championship in his debut Moto2 season, earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 2018, he was partnered by Luca Marini — Rossi's half-brother — and delivered a masterclass campaign: eight victories, the Moto2 World Championship, and twelve podiums. The team finished second in the teams' standings.
In 2019, Marini continued with Nicolò Bulega as his partner, winning twice. For 2020, Marini was joined by Marco Bezzecchi. Both riders excelled — Marini won three races and Bezzecchi two — and VR46 secured their first Moto2 teams' championship, with Marini and Bezzecchi finishing second and fourth overall in the riders' standings.
The Moto2 program concluded after 2022, with the team's grid slots transferred to the Fantic brand from 2023.
Luca Marini made his MotoGP debut in 2021 under a collaboration between VR46 and Esponsorama Racing, which organised the race operations while VR46 provided identity and livery. Beginning in 2022, VR46 took over Esponsorama's grid slots outright to contest MotoGP in their own name, fielding Marini and Bezzecchi on Ducati Desmosedici machinery.
In June 2021, the team signed a technical agreement with Ducati Corse for use of their machinery through at least the end of 2024. Bezzecchi's 2023 season demonstrated the team's MotoGP potential: he won in Argentina, France, and India and challenged for the championship before injuries and an older-specification bike ended his title bid. In October 2023, Indonesian lubricant brand Pertamina became the team's title sponsor.
Since 2025, the team has been fully factory-backed by Ducati, receiving official Desmosedici machinery. Marini left after 2023 to join the Repsol Honda factory team, and was replaced by Fabio Di Giannantonio. Bezzecchi departed after 2024 to ride for Aprilia, with Franco Morbidelli joining from Pramac Racing for 2025.
The VR46 project represents one of the most deliberate and successful talent academies in recent Grand Prix history. By building riders from Moto3 through Moto2 and into MotoGP within the same organizational culture, Rossi created a pipeline that produced Bagnaia — who would go on to win back-to-back MotoGP world championships with Ducati in 2022 and 2023 — as well as Marini, Bezzecchi, and Vietti.