Mooney VR46 boss denies FIM boss Yamaha switch claim

Mooney VR46 MotoGP team chief Uccio Salucci has dismissed a claim by newly-re-elected FIM president Jorge Viegas that the squad will switch to Yamaha in 2024.

During some speech or other Viegas decided to announce that Rossi’s mob would move away from Ducati at the end of 2023 and ally itself with the boss’s old Iwata teamsters.

However, Salucci told the stout chaps at GPone.com that this was, in fact, bollocks.

“I don’t know why Viegas is spreading such a bombshell, but we don’t know anything about it. I can only say once again that we have a three-year contract with Ducati that expires at the end of 2024, with an option to extend it for another two years,” he said.

“We will certainly fulfill the existing contract. For 2025 we will then see whether we continue with Ducati or not. As I’ve always said, it’s important for us that we have competitive bikes.

“From a personal point of view, I hope that the Yamaha will be competitive. I don’t deny that there is a certain bond and of course I hope so for Morbidelli, a rider from our Academy who rides for Yamaha. But this wish has nothing to do with the VR46 team.”