Pablo Nieto hails ‘incredible’ thing Valentino Rossi has done that no other MotoGP team owner will

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Valentino Rossi’s VR46 squad are enjoying one of their best seasons in MotoGP to date under Pablo Nieto’s watch, with third place in the 2025 teams’ standings within reach.

VR46 have only ever finished as high as third in the teams’ championship once before, when they ran Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini in the 2023 MotoGP season. The 2023 season is likely to remain VR46’s best points haul, having scored 530 compared to 398 so far in 2025.

Bezzecchi also secured third place in the 2023 riders’ championship on 329 points, whereas Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio rank sixth and seventh in 2025 on 207 and 191 points. VR46 are also yet to add to their three Grand Prix wins that Bezzecchi took in 2023.

Yet the 2025 season already marks a sizable improvement from 2024, when Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi combined at VR46 for 318 points and a podium. Bezzecchi moved to Aprilia in 2025, for whom he is now fighting to seal another top-three finish in the riders’ standings.

Pablo Nieto claims Valentino Rossi ‘doesn’t want a single euro’ from VR46’s successes

Morbidelli scored P3 in the Argentina Grand Prix and also in the Qatar Grand Prix for his only podiums since joining VR46 in 2025. Di Giannantonio got P3 in the Americas Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix, as well, aboard a factory-spec Ducati Desmosedici GP25 this season.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Valentino Rossi’s VR46 from current riders to bike

VR46 team manager Nieto claims the crew have improved this season as Rossi is unlike any other MotoGP team owner. Nieto feels the Italian does not run his team like a business, with the seven-time premier class riders’ champion also refusing to take any of their prize money.

Nieto told Motorbike Magazine: “It’s true that we’re lucky because, for example, the difference between us and normal MotoGP teams is that this team isn’t a business.

“Valentino Rossi doesn’t want a single euro at the end of the year. It’s incredible because if you have a budget of X, you spend that budget, 100%, right?

“When the normal thing is that if you have a budget of X at the end of the year, if you manage to save a little bit, that goes to the team boss because, in the end, it’s a business.

“So, in that sense, we’re really very calm. And it’s something that, whether you like it or not, makes the team level go up every year.”

Valentino Rossi’s sacrifice could help VR46 attract a big-name rider in 2027

The 2025 MotoGP season has not been perfect for VR46, but Rossi’s outfit have enjoyed an improved campaign in general compared to last year. It must also be remembered that VR46 are contesting their fourth year in MotoGP, having only debuted in the premier class in 2022.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth

Rossi’s reluctance to profit from owning a MotoGP team should help Nieto put plans in place for them to produce a stronger season in 2026 with their increased staff numbers. Nieto and Rossi’s work has also seen Neil Hodgson claim Fabio Quartararo should look at joining VR46.

VR46 are locked in with their current rider line-up through next season, when Morbidelli will ride a Ducati GP25 and Di Giannantonio will get the Borgo Panigale crew’s latest factory bike. Morbidelli’s new VR46 contract is only for 2026, and Di Giannantonio is also out of contract.