The late Marc VDS and his foresight: What lies ahead for his World Championship teams

On 5 July 2026, Marc van der Straten passed away in his adopted home of Switzerland. The 78-year-old patron had supported motor racing for decades like no other, spending a sum in the hundreds of millions on his hobby.

In sports car racing, he was involved in various series, whilst in motorcycling his name became well known through his involvement in the MotoGP paddock. His Moto2 team won the World Championship title in 2014, 2017 and 2019 with Tito Rabat, Franco Morbidelli and Alex Márquez. From 2015 to 2018, the team also competed in MotoGP; Jack Miller secured their only victory in the premier class in the rain at Assen in 2016, riding a Honda.

Since 2024, Marc VDS has also been competing in the World Superbike Championship, fielding a Ducati Panigale V4R for the English rider Sam Lowes, whose wife Marina Rossi serves as team manager, just as she did in Moto2. The team has established itself in the top five of the Superbike championship within three years, with Sam Lowes sitting fifth in the overall standings at the summer break. He finished the World Championship in 18th and 8th place in the previous two years; the 35-year-old has secured twelve podium finishes to date, but is still waiting for his first victory.

There has been much speculation so far about what will happen to the teams in the Moto2 and Superbike World Championships following van der Straten’s death. SPEEDWEEK.com has discovered that the Belgian, a member of the Artois dynasty which made a fortune brewing and selling beer, had made provisions to preserve his legacy in the form of a trust fund. Such trust funds serve to ensure that assets are passed on to beneficiaries in accordance with the owner’s wishes and under pre-determined conditions.

Given the large sums van der Straten has spent annually on motorsport – insiders speak of 7 to 8 million euros for all racing projects on two and four wheels – this source of funding is a lifeline for the teams in the Moto2 and Superbike World Championships. The money may last for a few years, but ultimately the teams will have to seek out wealthy sponsors to cover their budgets.

It will also come down to a choice between the Moto2 and Superbike World Championships, as financing both teams is likely to prove difficult in the long run. Moto2 rider Aron Canet has a contract with the team until the end of 2028; reportedly, the decision rests with him as to whether he wishes to remain in the middleweight category of Grand Prix racing or switch to Superbike. It is unclear whether his contract also provided for the possibility of the Moto2 team being shut down.