'Motorcycles change, but the heart of racing is the same'

Pablo Nieto, son of legendary 12+1 world champion Angel Nieto, never made it to the MotoGP class as a rider.

But the Spaniard, who spent a decade competing in the then 125cc class, winning the 2003 Portuguese Grand Prix, has now made it to the pinnacle of the sport as a team manager, in charge of the new Mooney VR46 project.

Nieto and VR46 gained valuable MotoGP experience by running Luca Marini inside the Avintia team last season, but now running their own two-rider squad is 'completely different'.

"I have to say thank you to Avintia because we made a very good partnership last year, but now it's completely different because it is our team with all our own people," Nieto said.

"Last year it was Avintia's team, Ruben [Xaus] was the team manager and we were like a partner let's say.

"Now we are making the same project that we made in Moto2. This is really important for VR46 because we continue with the same DNA.

"We made a completely new team and also we took a lot of young people into the team because I think it's really important for us to have young riders, young people, so [the tests] were a bit like a warm-up for us."

Those tests concluded at Mandalika, where Marini topped the timesheets on his way to third overall with the new Ducati GP22 while Bezzecchi (on a GP21) finished as the top rookie, in 20th.

"I think we made a very good test," Nieto said. "We know we can make a very good season. We know that Luca now has much more experience with the MotoGP and then Marco arrived like a rookie. We can work together and I want to continue in the same way that we have in the past in Moto2."

The VR46 Ducati Desmosedicis featuring ride-height systems, wings, complex electronic controls and 1000cc four-stroke engines are a long way from the neat and nimble 125cc two-strokes Nieto used to race.

But when asked to compare the past and present, Pablo, 41, recalled the words of his late father Angel:

"I remember when I was a rider and my father came to me and said, 'listen Pablo. it's true that the bikes and everything change, but the heart of racing stays exactly the same'.

"It's been the same from when my father was racing until now: The bikes are completely different, but the style, your mind and your blood is the same!"

After retiring as a rider at the end of 2008, then a short-lived role in the Onde 2000 Ducati project with Sete Gibernau, Nieto tasted world championship title success as a manager with Maverick Vinales, in the 125cc class, in 2013.

Joining VR46 as team manager from 2015, Nieto has overseen 22 grands prix victories (matching his former racing number) for Valentino Rossi's squad, including the 2018 Moto2 title for Francesco Bagnaia.

"I try to transmit to the riders my experience, because in the end it's a long time that I've been here [in the paddock]!" Nieto said. "But I still have a lot of things to improve and to learn.

"Every day we have to learn something and I have to put the best that we have on the table for Luca and Marco."

After overseeing multiple classes for VR46 in the past, Nieto will concentrate on MotoGP this season, with Luca Brivio (son of Davide) looking after the Moto2 team.

The 2022 racing season starts in at Qatar on March 6.