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| 2026 name | MotoGP: BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP Moto2: Italjet Gresini Racing Moto2 |
|---|---|
| Base | Faenza, Italy |
| Principal | Nadia Padovani |
| Rider(s) | MotoGP: 54.Fermín Aldeguer 73.Álex Márquez Moto2: 3.Sergio García 21.Alonso López |
| Motorcycle | MotoGP: Ducati Desmosedici Moto2: Kalex Moto2 |
| Tyres | MotoGP: Michelin Moto2: Pirelli |
| Riders' Championships | 250cc: 2001:Daijiro Kato Moto2: 2010:Toni Elías Moto3: 2018:Jorge Martín MotoE: 2019:Matteo Ferrari |
Gresini Racing is amotorcycle racing team competing in theMotoGP World Championship under the nameGresini Racing MotoGP as a Ducatisatellite team and the Moto2 World Championship asItaljet Gresini Racing Moto2.
Fausto Gresini founded the team in1997 with Fabrizio Cecchini as the technical director.
The team competed in the 500 cc class with Brazilian riderAlex Barros and aHonda NSR500V two-cylinder bike.
Barros ranked ninth in the final championship standings, and managed to record the team's first podium finish atDonington Park.
The following year, Honda decided to supply Barros and the team with aHonda NSR500 four-cylinder bike, the same bike that was used by thefactory team.
Barros recorded two podium finishes and a series of top-five finishes to collect 138 points and fifth place in the final standings.[1]
In1999, the team dropped down to the 250 cc class with a factory-supportedHonda NSR250 and with reigning 250cc world championLoris Capirossi as the rider.
In thefirst race of the season atSepang, 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.
After Capirossi stepped up to the 500 cc for the2000 season, the team signed young Japanese riderDaijiro Kato and French riderVincent Philippe.
Kato, who had already won two races as awild-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 withYamaha ridersShinya Nakano andOlivier Jacque until thelast race of the season atPhillip Island, Australia.[2]
However, Kato finished third in the race and lost the title and the runner-up position to Jacque and Nakano respectively.[3]
Kato's 259 points and third place in the championship handed him the Rookie of the Year award in the 250cc class.[4]
In2001, the team was renamedTelefónicaMovistar Honda and former 125 cc world championEmilio Alzamora was signed to replace Philippe.[5]
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.[6]
Alzamora added two podium finishes for the team as he went on to finish seventh in the final standings.[7]
The team returned to the premier class in2002 asFortuna Honda Gresini with Kato as their sole rider.
Due to the rule changes, the 500 cc class was renamed MotoGP and the new 990 ccfour-stroke bikes were introduced by the factory teams.[8]
Kato rode the olderHonda NSR500two-stroke bike for the first nine races of the new MotoGP season before he received the newHonda RC211V prior to theCzech Republic Grand Prix atBrno.[9]
At theSpanish Grand Prix, Kato finished in second place for his first podium finish in the MotoGP class.[10]
He matched his best finish with another second place at Brno, in his first race with the new four-stroke bike.[11]
He also recorded the team's first ever pole position in the MotoGP class in thePacific Grand Prix atMotegi, Japan.[12]
Kato ranked seventh in the final standings with 117 points and won the Rookie of the Year award,[4] while the team ranked eighth in the MotoGP team standings.[13]
The team also competed in the 250cc class with Alzamora and Italian riderRoberto Rolfo. Rolfo was ranked third in the final standings with seven podium finishes while Alzamora was seventh with two podiums.[14]
In2003, the team expanded their MotoGP class effort to two riders and was renamed Telefónica Movistar Honda as title sponsor Telefónica joined fromSuzuki. Former Suzuki riderSete Gibernau also joined the team as their second rider.[15]
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.[16]
In theopening race atSuzuka, Japan, Kato crashed into the tyre barrier. He suffered serious injuries and went into a coma for two weeks before he died in hospital.[17]
A week after Kato's death, Gibernau started from pole position and won theSouth African Grand Prix atWelkom, which marked the first race win for the Gresini team in the MotoGP class.[18]
During the post-race interview, Gibernau dedicated the win for his late teammate.[19] He remained as the team's sole rider until reigning Japanese Supersport championRyuichi Kiyonari joined the team from thefourth race onwards.
The team also promoted Gibernau to the 2003-spec bike left by Kato, while Kiyonari received the modified 2002 bike.[20]
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.[21]
In2004, Gibernau fought for the championship and finished runner-up. His teammate,Colin Edwards, finished fifth.
Gibernau remained with the team for2005 and was joined byMarco Melandri.
Melandri won two races. In2006 the team lined up Melandri andToni 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 in2007, albeit losing the Fortuna sponsorship due to European Tobacco Regulations. The team also changed their tyre supplier toBridgestone.
The new 800 ccHonda RC212V did not deliver the results expected and the team finished the season with 2 podiums.
For2008,Alex de Angelis andShinya Nakano joined the team, with a new sponsor –San Carlo.
For2009, Elías re-joined the team, replacing Nakano who deferred toWorld Superbikes.
In2010, Marco Melandri re-joined the team after a turbulent period riding forDucati andKawasaki, with 2008 250cc championMarco Simoncelli announced as his new teammate, who 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, whilstHiroshi 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 theSuperbike World Championship.
On 23 October 2011, Simoncelli died after a racing accident at the Malaysian Grand Prix.[22][23][24]
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.[25]
Aleix Espargaró scored his first podium in MotoGP during the 2021British Grand Prix, marking the first MotoGP-era podium for Aprilia and Gresini Racing's first podium since the2014 French Grand Prix withÁlvaro Bautista.[26]
For2022, Aprilia re-entered the sport with their own factory team, taking incumbent ridersMaverick Viñales and Espargaró.
Gresini elected to return to fully independent team status with Ducati machinery, fielding former Gresini Moto3 teammatesEnea Bastianini andFabio Di Giannantonio.[27] Bastianini secured the team's first-ever premier class victory at the season-openingQatar Grand Prix, with more victories in theUnited States,France, andAragon. Di GIannantonio secured the team's first-ever pole position atMugello, but his season was marked by struggling with MotoGP machinery. Bastianini, who had the standout result of 3rd in the riders' championship, was promoted to theDucati factory team for2023, and he was replaced byÁlex Márquez who joined fromLCR Honda.
Di Giannantonio took Gresini's only feature race win of 2023 at theQatar Grand Prix, with Álex Márquez taking the team's first sprint victories atSilverstone andSepang. Di Giannantonio moved to theVR46 Racing Team following his standout performances in the latter half of the 2023 season.
Eight-time world championMarc Márquez joined Gresini for2024, after 11 years withRepsol Honda,[28][29] joining his brotherÁlex.
During the 2024 season, the Márquez brothers, fielding the sameDucati Desmosedici, most notably shared a podium in theGerman Grand Prix,[30][31] 27 years after the fate in 1997City of Imola Grand Prix by the Aoki brothers,Nobuatsu andTakuma. All 3 of Gresini's victories in 2024 were thanks toMarc Márquez, winning atAragon,Misano, andPhillip Island. At final season, Márquez finished in 3rd place inthe championship standings.
Spanish rookieFermín Aldeguer replaced the outgoing Marc Márquez at Gresini, who joinedDucati Corse, for 2025 and 2026.[32][33] The Gresini team continued its streak of race victories, asÁlex Márquez secured his maiden Grand Prix victory atJerez. The pairing ofMárquez andAldeguer had also accumulated 5 additional podiums between them, with Aldeguer's first at the rain-affectedFrench Grand Prix with 3rd place. Aldeguer would take his maiden MotoGP victory at theIndonesian Grand Prix, becoming the first independent team rider sinceJorge Martín in 2021 to win in his rookie season. TheMalaysian Grand Prix was a big weekend for the team, as they clinched the independent team of the year title, withÁlex Márquez securing runner-up in the championship with his third victory of the season, andFermín Aldeguer clinching Rookie of the year award.[34] This is the best season for the team SinceMarco Melandri in 2005 got 2nd place.
The team has been competing in Moto2 since2010.
Gresini riderToni Elías won the inaugural Moto2 title on a Honda poweredMoriwaki chassis.[35][36][37][38]
The team was formerly known asQJmotor Gresini Racing[39] before Gresini ended the sponsorship in 2024.[40][41][42]
The team started competing in Moto3 in 2012.
In 2015, Gresini began using Honda machinery in their Moto3 programme, replacingKTM.[43][44]
In 2018, Gresini achieved a 1-2 championship finish in Moto3 with ridersJorge Martín andFabio Di Giannantonio.[45]
In 2021, Gresini left the Moto3 class in order to focus on their MotoGP and Moto2 efforts, after a decade in the class.[46][47]
In 2019, Gresini was granted two slots in the newly createdMotoE class, as all other satellite teams in the MotoGP class.
With two wins and only finishes within the top-5 on the season, riderMatteo Ferrari clinched the inaugural MotoE Cup.[48][49][50][51][52]
The team was founded in1997 byFausto Gresini (1961–2021), a two-time125cc world champion, after the end of his racing career.
On 23 February 2021,Fausto Gresini died after a two-month battle withCOVID-19.[53][54]
The team continued with Gresini's wife Nadia Padovani taking over as team owner and principal.[55]
| Year | Class | Team name | Bike | Riders | Races | Wins | Podiums | Poles | F. laps | Points | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | MotoGP | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP21 |  Enea Bastianini | 20 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 219 | 3rd |
| Fabio Di Giannantonio | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 20th | ||||
| 2023 | Ducati Desmosedici GP22 |  Álex Márquez | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 177 | 9th | ||
| Fabio Di Giannantonio | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 12th | ||||
| 2024 | Ducati Desmosedici GP23 | Marc Márquez | 20 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 392 | 3rd | ||
| Álex Márquez | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173 | 8th | ||||
| 2025 | BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP24 | Álex Márquez | 22 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 467 | 2nd | |
| Fermín Aldeguer | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 214 | 8th | ||||
| 2026 | Ducati Desmosedici GP26 | Álex Márquez | |||||||||
| Ducati Desmosedici GP25 | Fermín Aldeguer |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| MotoGP |
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|---|---|
| Moto2 |
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| Grand Prix motorcycles |
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