Gresini Racing


Gresini Racing is a motorcycle racing team currently competing in the MotoGP World Championship with Aprilia under the name Aprilia Racing Team Gresini as Aprilia's factory-supported team, the Moto2 World Championship as Federal Oil Gresini Moto2, the Moto3 World Championship under the name Kömmerling Gresini Moto3, and the MotoE World Cup as Trentino Gresini MotoE.
The team was founded in by two-time 125cc world champion Fausto Gresini, after the end of his racing career. The team competed in the 500 cc class for two seasons before dropping down to the 250 cc class in. In, Gresini's rider Daijiro Kato won the 250cc title. The following season, the team stepped up to the MotoGP class, where they have been competing since. The team also competes in the Moto2 class since. That season, Gresini's rider Toni Elías won the inaugural Moto2 title.

History

Fausto Gresini founded the team in with Fabrizio Cecchini as the technical director. The team competed in the 500 cc class with Brazilian rider Alex Barros and a Honda NSR500V two-cylinder bike. Barros ranked ninth in the final championship standings, and managed to record the team's first podium finish at Donington Park. The following year, Honda decided to supply Barros and the team with a Honda NSR500 four-cylinder bike, the same bike that was used by the factory team. Barros recorded two podium finishes and a series of top-five finishes to collect 138 points and fifth place in the final standings.
In, the team dropped down to the 250 cc class with a factory-supported Honda NSR250 and reigning 250cc world champion Loris Capirossi as the rider. In the first race of the season at Sepang, Malaysia, Capirossi took the first ever win for the Gresini team. During the season, he earned two more wins and six other podium finishes, and finished the season third in the final standings with 209 points.
's championship-winning 2001 Honda NSR250
After Capirossi stepped up to the 500 cc for the 2000 season, the team signed young Japanese rider Daijiro Kato and French rider Vincent Philippe. Kato, who had already won two races as a wild-card racer in 1997 and 1998, made an instant impact with four consecutive podium finishes at the start of the season. He became a title contender for the 250 cc title along with Yamaha riders Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque until the last race of the season at Phillip Island, Australia. However, Kato finished third in the race and lost the title and the runner-up position to Jacque and Nakano respectively. Kato's 259 points and third place in the championship handed him the Rookie of the Year award in the 250cc class.
In, the team was renamed Telefónica Movistar Honda and former 125 cc world champion Emilio Alzamora was signed to replace Philippe. With both Nakano and Jacque moving to the 500cc class, Kato became the main contender for the 250 cc title. Kato dominated the season by winning 11 races during the season, handing the Gresini team their first world title. Alzamora added two podium finishes for the team as he went on to finish seventh in the final standings.
on a Telefónica Movistar Honda RC211V at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix before he crashed on lap 3, and died two weeks later
The team returned to the premier class in as Fortuna Honda Gresini with Kato as their sole rider. Due to the rule changes, the 500 cc class was renamed MotoGP and the new 990 cc four-stroke bikes were introduced by the factory teams. Kato rode the older Honda NSR500 two-stroke bike for the first nine races of the season before he received the new Honda RC211V prior to the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Kato finished in second place for his first podium finish in the MotoGP class. He matched his best finish with another second place at Brno, in his first race with the new four-stroke bike. He also recorded the team's first ever pole position in the MotoGP class in the Pacific Grand Prix at Motegi, Japan. Kato ranked seventh in the final standings with 117 points and won the Rookie of the Year award, while the team ranked eighth in the MotoGP team standings. The team also competed in the 250cc class with Alzamora and Italian rider Roberto Rolfo. Rolfo was ranked third in the final standings with seven podium finishes while Alzamora was seventh with two podiums.
In, the team expanded their MotoGP class effort to two riders and was renamed Telefónica Movistar Honda as title sponsor Telefónica joined from Suzuki. Former Suzuki rider Sete Gibernau also joined the team as their second rider. Kato remained with the team and became one of four Honda official riders, riding the latest 2003-spec RC211V, while Gibernau was given the modified 2002 bike. In the opening race at Suzuka, Japan, Kato crashed into the tyre barrier. He suffered serious injuries and went into a coma for two weeks before he died in hospital. A week after Kato's death, Gibernau started from pole position and won the South African Grand Prix at Welkom, which marked the first race win for the Gresini team in the MotoGP class. During the post-race interview, Gibernau dedicated the win for his late teammate. He remained as the team's sole rider until reigning Japanese Supersport champion Ryuichi Kiyonari joined the team from the fourth race onwards. The team also promoted Gibernau to the 2003-spec bike left by Kato, while Kiyonari received the modified 2002 bike. Gibernau won three more races and recorded a total of ten podium finishes as he took the second place in the championship with 277 points. The team was ranked fourth in the teams standings as Gibernau and Kiyonari scored a combined 299 points.
won the 2010 Moto2 World Championship with Gresini Racing Moriwaki
In, Gibernau fought for the championship and finished runner up. His teammate, Colin Edwards, finished fifth. Gibernau remained with the team for and was joined by Marco Melandri. Melandri won two races. In the team lined up Melandri and Toni Elías with Elías bringing Fortuna sponsorship back to the team, and the team achieved four victories, three for Melandri and one for Elías. Both riders remained with the team in, albeit losing the Fortuna sponsorship due to European Tobacco Regulations. The team also changed their tyre supplier to Bridgestone. The new 800 cc Honda RC212V did not deliver the results expected and the team finished the season with 2 podiums. For, Alex de Angelis and Shinya Nakano joined the team, with a new sponsor – San Carlo. For, Elías re-joined the team, replacing Nakano who deferred to World Superbikes.
at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix a week before he died at the Malaysian Grand Prix
In, Marco Melandri re-joined the team after a turbulent period riding for Ducati and Kawasaki, with 2008 250cc champion Marco Simoncelli announced as his new teammate. The Gresini team won the inaugural Moto2 division with rider Toni Elías aboard a Honda powered Moriwaki chassis. In the MotoGP division, Simoncelli finished eighth overall while Melandri ended the season in tenth place.
For 2011, Simoncelli was promoted to ride a factory Honda as part of the Gresini team, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama rode a satellite Honda for the team. Simoncelli was competitive at the top end of the field but a number of crashes kept his points score low. In October 2011 it was announced that Simoncelli would remain with the team for the 2012 season, however, Aoyama announced a move to Castrol Honda in the Superbike World Championship. On 23 October 2011, Simoncelli was killed after an accident at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
In 2015, Gresini ended their long-standing partnership with Honda in the premier class. Aprilia returned to the MotoGP paddock with a factory effort with track-side operations to be managed by Gresini. However, the same year Gresini began using Honda machinery in their Moto3 programme, replacing KTM.
In 2018, Gresini achieved a 1-2 championship finish in the Moto3 class with riders Jorge Martín and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
In 2019, Gresini was granted 2 slots in the newly-created MotoE class, as all other satellite teams in the MotoGP class. With two wins and only top-5 finishes on the season, rider Matteo Ferrari clinched the inaugural MotoE Cup.

Results

Summary

;Notes:
* Season still in progress.

MotoGP results

YearBikeTyresRiders12345678910111213141516171819PointsPos.
JPNSAFESPFRAITACATNEDGBRGERCZEPORRIOPACMALAUSVAL1178th
Honda NSR500 Daijiro Kato1042RetRet8127Ret1178th
Honda RC211V Daijiro Kato2RetRetRet5441178th
Honda RC211VJPNSAFESPFRAITACATNEDGBRGERCZEPORRIOPACMALAUSVAL2994th
Honda RC211V Sete Gibernau41Ret17312124242422994th
Honda RC211V Ryuichi Kiyonari131311171418151615112119142994th
Honda RC211V Daijiro KatoRet2994th
Honda RC211VSAFESPFRAITACATNEDRIOGERGBRCZEPORJPNQATMALAUSVAL4142nd
Honda RC211V Sete Gibernau311222RetRet314617244142nd
Honda RC211V Colin Edwards775125665279Ret211484142nd
Honda RC211VESPPORCHNFRAITACATNEDUSAGBRGERCZEJPNMALQATAUSTURVAL3703rd
Honda RC211V Marco Melandri3434432RetRet76Ret524113703rd
Honda RC211V Sete Gibernau2Ret42Ret255Ret2RetRetRet554Ret3703rd
Honda RC211VESPQATTURCHNFRAITACATNEDGBRGERUSACZEMALAUSJPNPORVAL3444th
Honda RC211V Marco Melandri571716Ret73235913853444th
Honda RC211V Toni Elías4851197RetDNS111511Ret96163444th
Honda RC211V Michel FabrizioDNS3444th
Honda RC212VQATESPTURCHNFRAITACATGBRNEDGERUSACZESMRPORJPNAUSMALVAL2975th
Honda RC212V Marco Melandri5855299101063DNS45510242975th
Honda RC212V Toni Elías1442RetRet6Ret12DNS11783156102975th
Honda RC212V Michel Fabrizio102975th
Honda RC212V Miguel DuhamelRet2975th
Honda RC212VQATESPPORCHNFRAITACATGBRNEDGERUSACZESMRINDJPNAUSMALVAL1896th
Honda RC212V Shinya Nakano13910101099989104121785571896th
Honda RC212V Alex de AngelisRet141116124Ret15Ret4138Ret1017Ret14101896th
Honda RC212VQATJPNESPFRAITACATNEDUSAGERGBRCZEINDSMRPORAUSMALVAL2265th
Honda RC212V Toni Elías91591014Ret1266Ret396610762265th
Honda RC212V Alex de Angelis6131411151210115482RetRet412102265th
Honda RC212VQATESPFRAITAGBRNEDCATGERUSACZEINDSMRARAJPNMALAUSPORVAL2285th
Honda RC212V Marco Simoncelli111110979Ret6Ret117147686462285th
Honda RC212V Marco Melandri13865RetDNS91088Ret10911999132285th
Honda RC212VQATESPPORFRACATGBRNEDITAGERUSACZEINDSMRARAJPNAUSMALVAL2324th
Honda RC212V Marco Simoncelli5RetRet56Ret956Ret3124442C2324th
Honda RC212V Hiroshi Aoyama10478Ret91115109911119RetC122324th
Honda RC212V Kousuke Akiyoshi132324th
QATESPPORFRACATGBRNEDGERITAUSAINDCZESMRARAJPNMALAUSVAL2215th
Honda RC213V Álvaro Bautista7661064Ret7108563636542215th
FTR MGP12 Michele PirroNCRet141414139RetDSQRetRet14101515121452215th
QATAMEESPFRAITACATNEDGERUSAINDCZEGBRSMRARAMALAUSJPNVAL1735th
Honda RC213V Álvaro Bautista6866RetRet7546557455451735th
FTR-Honda MGP13 Bryan StaringRet2016Ret181421Ret17192021Ret1818DSQ22191735th
QATAMEARGESPFRAITACATNEDGERINDCZEGBRSMRARAJPNAUSMALVAL1705th
Honda RC213V Álvaro BautistaRetRetRet638Ret79Ret10Ret87106Ret161705th
Honda RCV1000R Scott Redding7Ret1413121313121191110131016710101705th
Aprilia RS-GPQATAMEARGESPFRAITACATNEDGERINDCZEGBRSMRARAJPNAUSMALVAL3911th
Aprilia RS-GP Stefan Bradl2014Ret1618182110183911th
Aprilia RS-GP Álvaro BautistaRet15191515141017141813101513161415143911th
Aprilia RS-GP Marco Melandri21Ret20191818Ret193911th
Aprilia RS-GP Michael Laverty203911th
Aprilia RS-GPQATARGAMEESPFRAITACATNEDGERAUTCZEGBRSMRARAJPNAUSMALVAL1457th
Aprilia RS-GP Stefan BradlRet710141014128DNS1914Ret1210101117131457th
Aprilia RS-GP Álvaro Bautista131011Ret9Ret8Ret101616101097127111457th
Aprilia RS-GPQATARGAMEESPFRAITACATNEDGERCZEAUTGBRSMRARAJPNAUSMALVAL6712th
Aprilia RS-GP Sam Lowes18RetRet16141919RetRet1820RetRet221319RetRet6712th
Aprilia RS-GP Aleix Espargaró6Ret179RetRetRet107813RetRet67RetRet6712th
Aprilia RS-GPQATARGAMEESPFRAITACATNEDGERCZEAUTGBRSMRARATHAJPNAUSMALVAL5410th
Aprilia RS-GP Aleix Espargaró19Ret10Ret9RetRet13DNS1517C14613Ret95410th
Aprilia RS-GP Scott Redding20121715RetRet121415Ret20C21161619135410th
Aprilia RS-GPQATARGAMEESPFRAITACATNEDGERCZEAUTGBRSMRARATHAJPNAUSMALVAL54*9th*
Aprilia RS-GP Aleix Espargaró109Ret111211Ret12Ret181454*9th*
Aprilia RS-GP Andrea Iannone141712DNSRet151110131716-54*9th*

* Season still in progress.