Category: Moto GP

1. Gresini Racing: six stars chasing for glory in 2020

   Posted on 1:00pm Saturday 15th Feb 2020

   Imola, 15 February 2020. The World Championship project of Gresini Racing is an ever-growing process and this year is no exception: along with the confirmation of reigning MotoE World Cup champion Matteo Ferrari and Moto3 ace Gabriel Rodrigo, four more or less new faces are joining the #GresiniFamily.
   
   Alongside the aforementioned Matteo and Gabri, there will be Alessandro Zaccone for Team Trentino Gresini MotoE and Jeremy Alcoba for the Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 outfit: two raw diamonds that Fausto Gresini selected between the CIV and CEV championships – and strongly wanted on board. If the 21-year-old Italian will make his world championship debut this year, for the Catalan #52 this is true only partly: Alcoba earned his full-time spot last year after doing well as substitute rider for Rodrigo in Austria and doing even better in England.
   
   The most ambitious project becomes the middleweight class one, where everything has changed: first of all, the team will be back to a two-rider line-up with Edgar Pons and Nicolò Bulega forming a duo of young age but great potential. If the Spaniard already has two world championship seasons under his belt – and makes his return as reigning CEV Moto2 champion – Bulega has already shown last year to be ready for this category. The team will have Federal Oil as main sponsor – for one of the longest-running partnerships in the world championship.

   FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
   “The Gresini Family keeps growing and this year we will have six riders across three classes by adding one rider in Moto2 – which is something crucial to be competitive. We’re reigning champions in MotoE and we know it won’t be easy to repeat the same achievement, but there’s no better way to try it than by confirming Matteoto begin with. Alongside him there will be Zaccone, a young rider who followed on Matteo’s footsteps first in the CEV and now here: this is an innovative category in which I believe young riders are key. Regarding Moto3, we come from a year of great disappointment, but we know we have a very competitive team. We strongly wanted Rodrigo as our first-choice rider, and I must admit I saw him in great form in this preseason. Sharing the pit-box with him will be Alcoba, who will need to adapt to the Honda after racing with a different bike – but he’s already on the task. I’m fully convinced we can do very well in this category and race at the front. Finally, Moto2 is the category in which we invested the most and finally we’ll have an Italian rider to defend our colours. With Bulega and Pons I believe we have a strong and competitive line-up. I would like to end by thanking all of our sponsor – who believe in us. We would like to repay them with a high-level season.”

2. Zaccone completes Team Trentino Gresini line-up for 2020

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 4th Dec 2019

   Team Trentino Gresini MotoE have now finalised their plans for 2020 with the arrival of Alessandro Zaccone, who will race alongside MotoE’s reigning and defending champion Matteo Ferrari.
   
   The 20-year-old Italian has a history in the Italian Championship of Speed (CIV) in which he became champion of the CBR600RR Cup in 2014 and a present in the CEV, where he was third this year in the Moto2 class (which was dominated by Edgard Pons). He is now joining Gresini in what is a new adventure for him in the all-electric class of MotoGP.
   
   Zaccone’s first shakedown will be on March 10-12 at Jerez de la Frontera – the same track hosting the season debut on the first weekend of May.
   
   ALESSANDRO ZACCONE
   “This is surely going to be an interesting challenge and a completely new one for me. I’m very happy with this opportunity and also to be joining such an institution like Team Gresini – which has been a dream since I was a young buy. I will give my 200% to repay Fausto’s trust in me and I expect a great season.”
   
   FAUSTO GRESINI
   “Alessandro is a young Italian prospect and that’s exactly the type of rider we were looking for. I always said that the MotoE project must be one for the young riders so I’m happy to be giving this opportunity to a rider that we considered mature enough to step up on the world stage – after doing so well in the CEV Moto2 class this year. We would like to confirm ourselves at the top in 2020 and with thisline-up we will try to do even better than 2019.”

3. Ferrari still atop the standings after race1 at Valencia

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 17th Nov 2019

   The title race will continue in the final race of the season. The MotoE world Cup will be decided in the last showdown schedule at 15:30 tomorrow at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Matteo Ferrari is still the main contender for the ultimate price courtesy of today’s fourth place, which allows him to enter the final battle with a 12-point margin over Garzo (2nd today) and 21 on Smith (3rd at the flag).
   
   The race start was not ideal for Ferrari (Team Trentino Gresini MotoE) who dropped down to fifth place but then managed to find back some speed and confidence as he battled out first with Garzo and then Simeon – before finishing with 13 important points under his belt ahead of tomorrow.
   
   By repeating today’s result in the last race, Matteo Ferrari would be crowed the first-ever MotoE world champion. Fingers crossed!

4. Ferrari re-signs and look forward to Valencia

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 7th Nov 2019

   Team Trentino Gresini MotoE has confirmed – as the most natural and logical choice – Matteo Ferrari, as the star of the team’s MotoE line-up for the upcoming season. Currently leading the standings with two races left to be contested, the #11 Italian rider showed great adaptation skills to the new bike and – despite the young age – a great amount of experience in the first-ever edition of the MotoE World Cup.
    
   For all these reasons, Team Trentino Gresini MotoE has shown great will to come to an agreement before of the final event of the season at Valencia, in which Ferrari will battle for the first-ever title of this new and surprising category.
    
   It is going to be a thrilling weekend with Matteo Ferrari, who is going to do the utmost to defend himself from the many title rivals. He currently holds a 19-point advantage on his main opponent Garzo, but 12 are the riders still mathematically in contention for the title – with 50 points still to be awarded. MotoE proceedings will get underway on Thursday at 16:00 local time (GMT+1).

5. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI - Malaysia Race

   Posted on 12:00pm Monday 4th Nov 2019

   POINTS FOR ALEIX AT THE END OF A TROUBLED RACE

   ANDREA IANNONE CRASHES WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES
   
   The race ridden on the torrid asphalt of Sepang (Malaysia) was not a simple one. Aleix Espargaró, who started from the fourteenth spot on the grid, managed to move his way up the field just outside the top 10 before losing two positions in the battles that took place in the race finale. In spite of a good race pace, the Spaniard's performance was limited by the difficulty overtaking.

   Teammate Andrea Iannone was also riding a decent race, battling for a finish in the points. Unfortunately, too much time spent in the slipstream heated up the front tyre and he ended up having a crash on turn 9, harmless for the Italian, but enough to put him out of the action.
   
   ALEIX ESPARGARÒ
   "I cannot be pleased with this race, especially because I had a decidedly better pace than my finishing position reflects. Unfortunately, our limitations in acceleration make it very difficult to overtake. I lost time today behind Bagnaia and in the battle with Pol. In the end, I limited the damage, even in terms of gap. Now we’ll prepare our best for Valencia and next season."
   
   
   ANDREA IANNONE
   "It was a strange race. I didn't have a bad pace, but I was slow in speed, staying in the slipstream for a long time and things did not improve. The temperatures began to rise, including the front tyre temperature, and I struggled until the crash. We have work to do, but I have peace of mind. I’ll be ready when we are able to make an important step forward."