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Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud, financier for Valentino Rossis MotoGP team, wanted to organize a conference to clarify the project he is involved in. After announcing the agreement and Aramco as team sponsor, some doubts arose, the largest being the oil company unofficially denying its involvement in the operation.
"We have an agreement with Valentino and VR46, but problems have arisen because we announced it too soon,” explained the member of the Saudi royal family and owner of Tanal Holding. “By law, these projects must be announced first at a national level and then at an international level. We are finalizing the last details these days with the four Ministries involved: Sport, Finance, International Finance and Media and, next week, Wednesday, there will be an official government conference where we will give all the details.”
That is also when they will clarify Armco’s involvement, which the prince did not want to talk about. However, he wanted to underline how the financing of the VR46 team through Tanal is safe: “The contract is already signed, and we will send the full amount to cover it next week.”
This is an investment of “approximately eighteen million dollars per year.” Only in the MotoGP. But it is only part of a larger project, which also includes the construction of a VR46 theme park in Saudi Arabia (with an investment of 300 million dollars), in addition to the construction of a car and motorbike factory (with a budget of 200 million dollars, designed in Italy but built in Saudi Arabia), as well as investments in Italy, with the acquisition of companies linked to the automotive sector, and even a racetrack. The overall investment for the various projects (including the construction of Fantastic City) is approximately one billion dollars.
And that is not all, because the prince also taking interest in the top racing series and “the acquisition of a team in Formula 1,” as Marco Bernardini stated.
“We have many different projects, and some will also be involved with Valentino. We also want to have a MotoGP Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. We are still talking about it with the Ministry of Sport, but it will happen quickly,” he reassured.
The prince also stated that he will soon come to a MotoGP race and commented on Rossi’s retirement: “Everyone wants Valentino to stay on top, but we cannot push him to do so. I would have liked it if he had continued in the MotoGP, but he will still be able to participate in other races, in cars, in Europe and in Arabia. We will have many things to talk about. Valentino is a very important figure for us.”
However, some have questioned this operation.
“Every media has a different approach. A different point of view. I do not care and I do not answer. I am here to work.”
The Prince also said he was a motorcyclist, but did not ride very fast.
On Wednesday, we will have the answers that are still missing.
