Special home livery for Luca Marini at Misano MotoGP

Luca Marini won't be hard to spot during his home MotoGP race at Misano this weekend, thanks to this special livery on his VR46 Avintia Ducati.

The Italian rookie will be looking to put the bright 'Sky Wifi' livery into the points after a disappointing 20th place at Aragon last weekend, an event that saw team-mate Enea Bastianini take his 2019-spec bike to a season-best sixth.

"The Misano GP will be a special event for many reasons, certainly one of the most exciting of the whole season," said Marini. "We will work hard to ensure that it is also one of the best races of the year. I want to have fun and entertain the home crowd."

"The home race for Luca: it will be a special GP for him on a very familiar track and, at least on paper, where to make the most of the power of his Ducati," added Avintia team manager Ruben Xaus. "It will be pure emotion and adrenaline, the right mood to leave Aragon behind and continue to grow and gain experience in this season finale."

Marini, who has a MotoGP best of fifth in the wet Austrian race, won at Misano in the Moto2 class last season.

The Italian is currently 20th in the world championship standings with five rounds to go, including a return to Misano after COTA.

Meanwhile, with ongoing doubts over whether the Aramco VR46 sponsorship will materialise for 2022, Sky might yet continue as main sponsor for the team's first full premier-class campaign.

There are even rumours that WithU - which has been linked with title sponsorship of the replacement for the 'SRT' satellite Yamaha project - is now interested in stepping up its backing of VR46 instead.