Biker News - Regularly updated

Welcome to our News section, where articles are listed below and if relevant within the categories on the right, just to make it easier for you to find what you wish to read...

Please note that the content within our News section (text and images), follows the same copyright laws/notice as all other content on the website - ie not to be reproduced (including slightly amending) without prior consent. 

 RSS Feed

Category: Moto GP

  1. FIRST-TIME TRIO OF RACES FOR TEAM GRESINI MOTOGP: ARAGON, MOTEGI AND BURIRAM

    Posted on

    A brand-new trio of events is a about to get underway for the MotoGP World Championship and Team Gresini is ready for this demanding challenge, which will take the Faenza-based squad first to Alcañiz (Spain), then to Motegi (Giappone) and Buriram (Thailand). 
     
    This second half of the season is shaping up to be a tour the force, with Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio ready to test their fitness condition and the set-up solutions found in the recent test at Misano on very different tracks. 
     
    The upcoming venues are on paper among the favourable ones for the two Gresini standard bearers, especially by looking back at previous editions. Bastianini stepped onto the Aragón  podium five times between 2016 and 2020 (three times in Moto3 and two in Moto2); he also won once in Japan in 2016 (Moto3), while he has an 11th place as best result so far at Buriram. 
     
    On the other side of the garage, Di Giannantonio has been on the podium in Spain and Thailand: he was 2ndat Alcañiz in 2017 and on the top step at Buriram one year later. His best finish in Japan so far is a 7th place in 2017.
     
    ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (4º in the championship standings with 138 points)
    “It’s going to be a difficult trio, but we’re charged up and we have momentum. I have a great feeling with Aragon and even last year I did well there in my MotoGP debut. Regarding Japan and Thailand, it will all be a discovery with my Ducati, but I believe that right now we can be fast in every condition. The goal is to finish the season the best way possible, and this trio will be key.”
     
    FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (20º in the championship standings with 23 points)
    “This is surely the most challenging moment of the season for many reasons: long travels, time-zone difference, food… we’re coming off a positive test and we will start off with Aragon, which is a track I like a lot and where I hope I can confirm the positive feeling found with the bike. It will be nice to return to Japan and Thailand because we haven’t been there in a while, and I can’t wait. We’re charged up for this trio.”
     
     

  2. GOODBYE ITALY AS TESTING CONCLUDES AT MISANO

    Posted on

    #MisanoTest. An important, two-day test has drawn to a close for Team Gresini MotoGP on the track that last weekend hosted the fourteenth round of the World Championship. The Faenza-based squad worked at full capacity with the goal to better prepare for what is going to be a really demanding last stretch of the season.
     
    After being very quick throughout the race weekend, Enea Bastianini kept the momentum going in this last official test of 2022. The Italian, who came extremely close to winning the race on Sunday, has worked on some fine-tuning ahead of the next races with excellent speed and pace (he was fourth quickest). The rider #23 did not have time to test an experimental front tyre brought by Michelin, which could be used next year.
     
    Fabio Di Giannantonio worked on the bike set-up and found a great feeling with his Desmosedici GP21, especially with higher temperatures. With many laps completed and an improved confidence, the #49 was the tenth quickest rider in the test.

    ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (1’31.260)
    “It was a positive test. We completed a lot of laps, we were quick and we also tried something set-up wise that improved the feeling with the bike. My personal quickest lap was set yesterday after 27 laps with the same tyre, so I feel very positive. We haven’t made huge steps forward, but we were already very so we only had to do some fine tuning. We are leaving Misano with great expectations for the last races of the year.”
     
    FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (1’31.605)
    “This test was a very positive one. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that much because we didn’t have new parts to try, but we tested some different configurations that I liked and I felt very good on the bike. We gathered plenty of data without going for longer runs and we’re happy. It’s true that this track was perfect and we’ll need to test these solutions at other tracks and in different conditions. Now we will rest a bit before the three consecutive rounds waiting for us.”

  3. BUSY APRILIA IN MISANO TEST

    Posted on

    ALBESIANO: 'WE CAN'T BE SATISFIED, WE HAVE TO KEEP WORKING'

    The main news of the two days of MotoGP testing at Misano is the enormous amount of work carried out by Aprilia. Always among the first to take to the track and the last to close, with practice starts on the main straight, even today. An unmistakable sign of the constant ambition to improve, despite an absolute competitive situation.

    A total of 427 laps were clocked over the two days by the RS-GPs of Aleix Espargaró, Maverick Viñales and Lorenzo Savadori, all of whom were involved in both tests related to the current season and in comparisons and simulations that could help the development of the 2023 prototype.

    Caught up in a crash at Turn 13, Aleix had to interrupt his test towards the end of today's morning session, having suffered a micro-fracture to the little finger of his left hand that is not cause for concern ahead of Aragón.

    ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
    "The injury will fortunately only require a little rest. We'll check it tomorrow with more detailed tests but I'm not worried ahead of Aragón. The test overall was positive. We tried some concepts with a view to 2023 but we will have to analyse the data well, because Misano is a track with a lot of grip, especially after a race weekend. So it will be necessary to reconfirm the sensations on other tracks".

    MAVERICK VIÑALES
    "We have definitely taken a step forward with these tests. I am satisfied with the work Aprilia is doing, both with a view to 2023 and to help me in this season finale. In the second part of the race on Sunday I lost something compared to the best riders and in these two days we have also had the opportunity to analyse that situation and work to improve it."

    ROMANO ALBESIANO
    "Despite what might come naturally seeing the results of this season, our path to perfect competitiveness is still a long one. We are not satisfied and we won't be until we manage to fill all the gaps in the RS-GP. We are already working on the ideas that will go on to define the 2023 prototype but the analysis process has to be meticulous, the risk of missteps is always just around the corner. There are concepts that seem to work, others that don't clearly improve, so after so many laps we will have to be good at analysing the data collected. We are at a good level of performance, but this does not allow us to slow down development."

  4. STELLAR RIDE TO MISANO PODIUM FOR ENEA

    Posted on

    #SanMarinoGP race. STELLAR RIDE TO MISANO PODIUM FOR ENEA
    An excellent performance and spectacular finish marked Enea Bastianini’s race on home turf at Misano, which saw the standard bearer of Team Gresini MotoGP battling for the win up to the finish line with Pecco Bagnaia - his future teammate starting next season. 
     
    It was not an easy race for Enea, however, especially at the beginning, but he managed it the perfect way before recovering the right feeling and pace in the final laps, when he fought hard on equal terms with the Ducati rider #63. Courtesy of today’s result, ‘Bestia’ goes from sixth back to fourth in the standings, with now 138 points under his belt.
     
    It was an uphill encounter for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who after the coming together with Franco Morbidelli was still able to make it to the chequered flag, while gathering important data and fresh feedback ahead of the last leg of the season.

    2nd - ENEA BASTIANINI #23
    “I had a strange feeling with the tyres at the beginning, as they didn’t get into perfect temperature. From halfway point I was then able to find back the right feeling. I tried all I could until the end, first at turn 14 and then at the last corner I wanted to win, but I had made a mistake before and then towards the finish line Pecco closed the door shut and there was nothing I could do. It’s great to be on the podium with this livery and on such a special circuit for me.”
     
    20th - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49
    “It’s a shame that the race was kind of ruined straight away. I pushed too hard at turn four to overtake and crashed… I did my best to make it to the finish line and honour these colours and this track. Obviously, we were aiming at a different type of result, we had a great pace and we could have been in the top ten. Now we’ll try to make the most of the day of testing in order to get to Aragon with the best possible feeling.”

  5. TEAM GRESINI MOTOGP ON FRONT ROW WITH BASTIANINI

    Posted on

    #SanMarinoGP qualifiyng: The mixed conditions of a late-summer Saturday have shuffled the cards for Enea Bastianini, who after comfortably making his way to Q2 at his home Grand Prix, he was able to confirm his top-form status aboard the Ducati #23 by securing a front-row start at the #SanMarinoGP. The Italian finished with the third-quickest time, even though he will line up second on the grid due to the penalty inflicted to Bagnaia – who was ahead of him in the qualifying classification. 
     
    It was a Saturday of improvements for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who did his best both in FP3 and Q1 and finished 14th his qualifying day. Tyre choice will be crucial for both riders ahead of tomorrow, with track conditions continuously evolving temperature-wise.

    3rd - ENEA BASTIANINI #23
    “I was really satisfied after a session that could have caused us a lot of troubles. We gambled on using slick tyres straight away even though the track was quite wet, especially on kerbs. I played my cards in several spots: I like to brake hard and late, and it wasn’t easy today. We had to be brave to finish near the top and we managed to do so.”
     
    14th - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 
    “We’re improving and compared to yesterday we made a big step with the bike, and we came very close to Q2, which was out target. Fourteenth place is not a disaster, our race pace is good, and we have to make a good choice tyre-wise. With a few more little steps forward in the warm-up – weather permitting – we will be competitive.”