Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team “has to fight for something that matters”

VR46 MotoGP team boss Pablo Nieto admits his squad was simply not good enough against fellow Ducati satellite Gresini, and that it must “fight for something that matters”.

Valentino Rossi’s outfit received Ducati factory support in 2025, as it gained a GP25 for Fabio Di Giannantonio following Pramac’s departure to Yamaha.

But VR46 struggled for consistency in 2025, with Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli (who was riding a GP24) combining for just six podiums across 22 rounds.

Gresini, by contrast, was consistently a podium challenger, with Alex Marquez winning three grands prix on a GP24 on his way to second in the standings, while rookie Fermin Aldeguer tallied up a maiden victory in Indonesia.

In the final teams’ standings, Gresini outscored VR46 by 188 points. For next year, the team will have a factory-spec bike for Alex Marquez.

Following Di Giannantonio’s podium finish in the Valencia finale, team boss Pablo Nieto bemoaned both of his riders’ lack of consistency, especially against Gresini in 2025.

“It's true, Gresini has the same equipment as us, and they were faster than us,” he told Sky Italy.

“We have to improve, we have to beat them, beat the factory team from time to time too, because that's our goal, to fight for something that matters. Then we'll see.”

He added: “We need to understand why this season we were fighting for the podium in one race  – and sometimes, like in Germany, for the win  – while it was very difficult to be in the top 10 the next.

“We need to try to understand why, to work on that.

“It's very, very important to be more consistent because, in the end, that's what makes the difference.

“That's our goal, to try to be more consistent and always at least in the top five.

“It's a very, very difficult thing.

“When you have problems, it's very important not to amplify them.

“This is a key element because a small problem can become a bigger one.

“Personally, I think that's why in some races you fight for the podium and not in others.”