Marini: Francesco Bagnaia would be MotoGP champion without the VR46 Academy, however…

Among Francesco Bagnaia’s large number of MotoGP victories is the honor of being the first champion of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy leading class.

It adds to the Moto2 title that Bagnaia won (as part of the VR46 group) in 2018 and puts it ahead of the individual part of the Academy and Moto2 champion Franco Morbidelli, whose MotoGP triumphs in 2020 motivated Bagnaia.

As Bagnaia rushed to Academy-designed credit after his MotoGP title, the principal by an Italian on an Italian bike from around 1972, Rossi’s younger brother Luca Marini accepts that Pecco would have anyway had to be champion.

For Marini, the biggest question is whether Bagnaia, like the other VR46 Academy riders, would have left the dashing long before he got to the main class.

Bagnaia neglected to score points in his Moto3 season presentation, with Group Italia, before being picked up by the VR46 Group and Academy the following year. He then, at that time, moved to Mahindra where he scored his most memorable race victories before joining VR46’s own group in Moto2.

“I think everyone finds their way since you don’t need to bother with the Academy, you don’t need anything. You should just major areas of strength for me, work a ton, have a smart brain, areas of strength for one. Also, Pecco showed it,” said Marini, who was a colleague of Bagnaia in Moto2 and currently rides for VR46’s own group in MotoGP.

“As I would also see without the Academy [he] would win this [MotoGP title]. However, I couldn’t say if without the Academy he had the possibility to pursue his vocation in Moto3. Maybe it’s the investigation.

“Just like for Franco, like for Marco [Bezzecchi], as it was for me. Since without the Academy maybe I could not enter the Pons group in the Moto2 European Championship [in 2015] and that was the key to my vocation. Because, assuming that I was not there, as I would see, it was also unimaginable for me.

“Anyway, maybe you can find the money another way, with your father, with another administrator. You can make it happen. If you need it enough, you can.

With four VR46 riders – Bagnaia, Morbidelli, Marini, Bezzecchi – currently competing in MotoGP, in addition to any semblance of Moto2 racing champion Celestino Vietti hoping to enter as soon as possible, Marini says the Academy has even exceeded its own assumptions. .

“We didn’t need, I think [to win the title] to understand the strength of the Academy,” Marini said. “The Academy brought four riders to MotoGP. We all started very far from MotoGP. We never remembered to show up here. Maybe also the high level of the Academy didn’t thought we’d introduce ourselves!

“In any case, we are at this very moment where we want to work on the association, the circumstance, because it will be difficult in my opinion to supervise four pilots, I trust five, later, who are fighting for the triumph in MotoGP.”

Unfortunately for Marini, a six-time race champion and reigning sprinter in Moto2, he is the main current VR46 Academy MotoGP rider clinging to a platform.

The Italian has finished fourth twice this season while heading for twelfth in the standings, in addition to two front row starts and the fastest lap at Aragon. The 25-year-old then, by then, beat the timesheets at the Valencia test.

Marini agrees that a sensible next step is to try to break into the top five in the championship next season, when MotoGP also offers Saturday Run races.

“I hope I can fight for the top spots, but that’s how I feel if you have to fight for the championship in a year, you expected to finish this year in the top five,” he said. declared.
“Still, currently finishing P12 is a bit too far, so take it one step further, finish in the top five [next year].

“We will also have Run races. It may change some of what happens, so it will be fascinating and qualifying will prove to be much more important. So I want to believe that I can find an answer. I will prepare a ton of them to better plan the qualifications.

Marini and Bezzecchi will race year-old Ducati GP22s next season.