Category: Moto GP

1. Fausto Gresini Tribute

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 20th Apr 2021

   FORMULA1 AND MOTOGP TOGETHER FOR A TRIBUTE TO FAUSTO GRESINI

   Imola, Portimao - 18 April 2021. The last farewell from the motorsport world to Fausto Gresini was a commemorative event done together by Formula1 and MotoGP.  
   
   For the first time in history – and live worldwide – The Formula1 and MotoGP World Championship have joined together in the memory of Fausto Gresini by linking together the Portimao and Imola grids in what was a heartfelt goodbye to the Gresini Racing team principal.
   
   A big thank you goes to Stefano Domenicali (Formula1 CEO) and Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna Sports CEO) who advocated for this initiative that linked the two biggest worldwide motorsport series in the memory of Fausto.

   STEFANO DOMENICALI – CEO FORMULA1
   “To remember Fausto Gresini means to scroll through some of the most beautiful sporting pages of our hometown Imola. The passion for motors and motorsports has tied us together from an early age. Fausto not only has been a World Champion, but also an incredible scout of extraordinary talents, who left their mark into two-wheeled motorsport. He will never be forgot.”
   
   CARMELO EZPELETA – CEO DORNA SPORTS
   “Fausto has been, without a doubt, among those who most contributed in bringing MotoGP to the level it is now. He was first of all a good friend and one of those key figures of our paddock. With his charisma and smile, he built one of nicest and best equipped teams of the paddock, and my goal is to keep his memory alive. He left a great family both outside and inside the paddock and we will miss him a lot. We celebrated him in Qatar with a heartfelt minute of silence, and I think this shared event with Formula1 is the ultimate proof of how important his figure has been in the whole motorsport world.”

   NADIA PADOVANI – GRESINI RACING TEAM OWNER
   “On behalf of myself, my kids and the whole Gresini Racing, I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, Stefano Domenicali and Carmelo Ezpeleta for having united the motorsport world to commemorate Fausto, a great man both in life and in the sport. We are immensely grateful and moved for this wonderful and unexpected tribute.”

   

2. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI - Portimao Race

   Posted on 12:00pm Monday 19th Apr 2021

   SOLID PERFORMANCE AND SIXTH PLACE FOR ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IN PORTUGAL

   LORENZO SAVADORI CONTINUES TO IMPROVE AND EARNS HIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

   THE APRILIA RS-GP, PUT TO THE TEST AFTER THE GOOD START IN QATAR, CONFIRMS ITS STATUS AS A GROWING PROJECT
   Aleix Espargaró rode his Aprilia RS-GP to a sixth-place finish in the Portuguese GP, held on the Portimão track, keeping the gaps to a minimum: just over 8 seconds behind the winner and less than 4 from the podium.

   It is a nice result that represents his third top-ten finish in the first three races. Never before had Aleix started a championship this well with Aprilia, so much that he is lying sixth in the overall standings. And the result could have been even better, but after a warm-up session where he had demonstrated a better pace than the one he had during the race, number 41 had to reckon with the highest heat of the weekend which conditioned the performance of the medium tyre chosen for the rear.

   Aleix and Aprilia were put to the test after the good performance in Qatar and the RS-GP confirmed its status as an outstanding and growing project, while Aleix demonstrated great skill managing the race, in spite of the unexpected difficulties he had to face.

   There is good news from the other side of the garage as well, confirming the improvements seen throughout the weekend and, thanks in part to a few crashes, Lorenzo Savadori earned his first championship points, finishing 14th.
   
   ALEIX ESPARGARO'

   "After the warm-up session where I had started on a used tyre and felt very good, I may have expected something more from this race. But we mustn’t forget the path that has brought us this far, battling in the leading group three races in a row, with speed and without mistakes. To be even more incisive, I was lacking a bit of grip at the rear, with the asphalt 20 degrees hotter than this morning, maybe choosing the hard tyre wouldn’t have been such a gamble. Without ever testing it thoroughly during the weekend, we didn’t feel confident enough and, all things considered, we continue demonstrating our value anyway. I am having more fun than ever in the saddle. I'm stoked and I can’t wait to get back on the track to see what satisfaction we’ll be able to take home next."
   
   LORENZO SAVADORI
   "My first points in the MotoGP World Championship are certainly an important detail, but the experience I continue to build race after race is worth more than anything else. Our goal is still to reduce the gap behind the leaders, as well as behind my teammate, and the results will come as a result. I lost a lot of ground in the early stages of the race today. My difficulties braking and cornering are accentuated with a full tank, whereas I was then able to maintain a pace similar to the group ahead of me."

    

3. CHALLENGING TEST FOR INDONESIAN E-RACING GRESINI MOTOE AT JEREZ

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 15th Apr 2021

   Team Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE were hard at work at Jerez de la Frontera in an intense three-day test in which had its challenges – especially on the second day, with the overall results being far from ideal.
    
   The two standard bearers of Gresini Racing in the category have set almost identical times (1’48.701secs for Ferrari, with Mantovani only 0.061s away), but both were quite distant from the top of the timesheets as Granado and Aegerter turned out to be more than one and a half seconds faster. 
    
   It’s hard to imagine the 2019 MotoE World Cup title winner and 2020 runner up at ease ni this situation, while Andrea Mantovani continue his familiarisation in the series ‘in his teammate’s slipstream’. For both riders, the perfect feeling is yet to be found, but there will be more time to make it happen in the opening round of the season, which gets underway 15 days from now at the same track.

4. GTEC CHOOSES THE GREEN SIDE OF TEAM GRESINI

   Posted on 9:00am Wednesday 7th Apr 2021

   A new and important partnership has come into place for Gresini Racing, who from the 2021 will be counting on GTEC Europe in the MotoE class. This is a natural combination between the Gresini-ran green team and GTEC, a leading tech company in the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) sector that has always been committed to sustainability and energy saving. 
   
   The GTEC brand will be present on the sleeves of the leathers of Matteo Ferrari – the first-ever MotoE World Cup champion and current runner-up in the series, and of Andrea Mantovani, a new arrival in the Gresini family as well as in the class.
   
   GTEC will start the adventure in the World Cup as technical sponsor of Team Gresini MotoE, with the goal of increasing this partnership from 2022 already. The next stop for the MotoE class will be on April 12-14 at Jerez de la Frontera for the second and last test of the year.

5. APRILIA ONCE AGAIN IN THE LEADING GROUP AND IN THE TOP 10 WITH ALEIX

   Posted on 12:00pm Monday 5th Apr 2021

   The impressive speed demonstrated in the first part of the race, as the second best race fast lap will testify, is the umpteenth positive sign for Aleix and Aprilia. During a race which was, on average, faster than the one last week, the RS-GP confirmed its potential and, in Aleix’s able hands, crossed the finish line with an even narrower gap behind the leader (5.382 seconds). Only some difficulties with top speed which prevented the possibility of overtaking forced Espargaró to what was, in any case, a brilliant top-10 finish. This is a result that lets him leave Qatar in eighth place for the riders championship, whereas Aprilia is fourth in the manufacturer championship.

   Lorenzo Savadori, although still far from his teammate’s performance, demonstrated a decidedly more competitive pace than last week. The reference gap behind the winner drops to around 10 seconds, whereas the Italian rider’s experience increases with the demanding MotoGP bike.
   
   ALEIX ESPARGARO'
   "I cannot be happy with my position because I believe we deserved better. The new RS-GP works well. Acceleration is spectacular and I'm able to push in braking. The only place we suffered today was on the straight. When I was behind the Ducatis, I had more grip than they did, but I am unable to overtake them. It’s a pity, but from what I could see in these two races, when we get to the European circuits, I'm sure we’ll be able to have some fun."
   
   LORENZO SAVADORI
   "I am looking at the positive sides of this race. My shoulder, although not perfect, is improving constantly, and I should be able to forget about that problem when we arrive in Portimão. I was about 10 seconds faster than last Sunday, even with the fact that I had to do a little fuel saving on the last 5 laps. There is still a lot of work to do, but I can’t wait to race in Portimão, a track that I know well, and with the experience I’ve gained from this season start."