MotoGP – The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 – Occasions APRILIA

Posted on by admin

The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026

MotoGP - The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 - Occasions APRILIA

Fausto Gresini’s experienced structure will no longer be Aprilia’s official MotoGP team from 2022, but renews his commitment to the premier category as an independent team for another five years.. Associated with which manufacturer? That’s the whole question !

Five years already that the Gresini team has represented Aprilia at the highest level of motorcycle competition with the special status of official team. The Italian manufacturer – the red lantern of the ranking – is indeed the only one to date to delegate the management of its factory structure, certainly 100% Italian assembly but unusual at this level.

  • MNC file : The entire MotoGP 2020 season
  • MNC file :

This strange partnership ending at the end of 2021, Fausto Gresini is making his arrangements for the future with the signing of a five-year contract with the association of teams in MotoGP (IRTA), which runs from 2022 to 2026. The Gresini team will be reunited with therefore its status as an independent team.

"We are delighted to announce this agreement with the IRTA to continue five years in MotoGP from 2022," said Gresini. "We will no longer represent Aprilia as a Factory team and we will therefore continue as an independent team, with the same desire and the same commitment".

Independent, but with which manufacturer ?

The former double 125 cc world champion, on the other hand, remains discreet about the identity of the manufacturer on whose behalf his structure will work from 2022. One thing is however certain: Gresini will again be a private team, like Tech3 for KTM, LCR for Honda, Pramac for Ducati or Petronas-SRT for Yamaha.

 MotoGP - The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 - Occasions APRILIA

"We have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of things to define and communicate: we are obviously already working on this project and we will reveal the details little by little," warns Fausto Gresini, without saying more….

Two privileged avenues are available to him: partnering with Suzuki who is trying to set up a satellite team in MotoGP or recovering the Ducati d’Avintia whose contract with IRTA expires at the end of 2021. In both cases, Fausto Gresini will however face a certain Valentino Rossi, who lays the foundations for his future MotoGP team with the hiring of his half-brother at Avintia….

Aprilia really out of the race for Gresini ?

Another alternative: to extend with Aprilia as the second team of the Noale brand. After all, neither Gresini nor Aprilia mentioned the end of the collaboration! Fausto Gresini himself does not close the door when he declares "we will no longer represent Aprilia as a Factory team and we will therefore continue as an independent team".

 MotoGP - The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 - Occasions APRILIA

This situation requires that Aprilia invest heavily to create its own MotoGP factory structure in 2022, and that at the same time the brand build two additional motorcycles to launch a satellite team entrusted to Gresini. Ambitious scenario in view of the limited resources granted by the Piaggio group and the lack of results of the RS-GP…

Under these conditions, which rider would like to join this hypothetical Aprilia-Gresini "B" team, even though the official Noale motorcycles lack performance and reliability? Recall that Aprilia has already suffered the refusals of Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso and several Moto2 talents to replace Andrea Iannone in 2021 !

And why not a comeback with Honda ?

Third possibility for Fausto Gresini: return to his first love affair with Honda, which can afford to have six RCVs on the grid again (4 currently). The hypothesis holds all the more that the winged brand and Gresini have strong links, born of 18 years of collaboration in the premier category: it is with Honda that Fausto Gresini started as team manager in 1997, at the ‘era with Alex Barros on a 500 cc 2-stroke. 

 MotoGP - The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 - Occasions APRILIA

The Gresini team will then line up in the other categories, notably in 250 cc with the title in 2001 thanks to Daiijiro Kato. Unfortunately, Fausto Gresini’s protege lost his life on the new MotoGP Honda RC211V during the first race of the 2003 season in Suzuka (Japan) … His teammate Sete Gibernau, as if transcended by the disappearance of the talented Japanese, dedicated his four wins. 

Gresini will finish "vice-champion" of the world in 2003 and 2004 with "Gib", then in 2005 with Marco Melandri. Then fate fell on the Italian structure a second time in 2011 with the disappearance of his new colt Marco Simoncelli, broke on the rise at the Malaysian GP… 

 MotoGP - The Gresini team regains its independence in MotoGP until 2026 - Occasions APRILIA

Despite this double tragedy, Fausto Gresini’s team continued to move forward: Jorge Martin offered him the Moto3 title in 2018, followed the following year by Matteo Ferrari in MotoE electric motorcycles. To date, the experienced team Gresini "weighs" 174 podiums including 55 victories: enough to seduce its future partner for 2022 to 2026 !

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *