How the Gresini family saved the team after his death

The two-time 125cc world champion lost his life in February after a long battle with COVID-19. The family took over the reins of the team in MotoGP following the death of Fausto Gresini, with his wife Nadia Padovani taking over as owner and director.

Gresini Racing completed its best season with Aprilia in 2021, achieving a historic podium finish for the brand at Silverstone with Aleix Espargaró, while Fabio Di Giannantonio won the Moto2 Spanish Grand Prix.

“Yes, 2021 has been a very difficult year for us so far,” said Carlo Merlini , Gresini Racing’s director of marketing. “We started in February with the loss of Fausto, which left a huge emotional and professional void.”

“The gap that was left was so big that for some time we thought we were not going to make it. But that did not last long, because immediately afterward Fausto’s family, Nadia, everyone, wanted to cover it, get on the bandwagon and move everything forward. : the dream, the project, the legacy”.

“And a few months later, looking back, the other option would have been to stop.”

“I think now everyone is happy to see that the Gresini team is still in the paddock and continues with the project. It has been very important for us to receive the help and support of everyone in the paddock.”

“The results on track have been good, I’m sure Fausto would have liked to see Aprilia on the podium after seven years of working together. We won races again in Moto2. So I hope he was watching and cheering us on too.” .

Gresini will once again be a fully independent team in 2022 and ride Ducati bikes, having last raced as a satellite in 2014 before joining Aprilia.

It will have Enea Bastianini -who rode with Gresini in Moto3 from 2014 to 2018- and Di Giannantonio as riders. Each will carry a 2021 Ducati GP21.

Gresini will be one of three Ducati satellite teams in 2022, bringing Desmosedici’s total on the MotoGP grid to eight alongside those of the official Ducati team, Pramac and VR46.

Photos: all the riders and bikes that have raced with Gresini Racing in 500cc/MotoGP

1997: Alex Barros (Honda NSR500V)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

1998: Alex Barros (Honda NSR500)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2002: Daijiro Katoh (Honda NSR500)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Daijiro Katoh (Honda RC211V)*

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*Change bike mid-season

2003: Daijiro Katoh (Honda RC211V)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2003: Sete Gibernau (Honda RC211V)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2003: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda RC211V)*

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*Replaces Daijiro Katoh after his death

Photo by: Richard Sloop

2004: Sete Gibernau (Honda RC211V)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2004: Colin Edwards (Honda RC211V)

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Photo by: Gresini Racing

2005: Marco Melandri (Honda RC211V)

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Photo de: Gresini Racing

2005: Sete Gibernau (Honda RC211V)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2006: Marco Melandri (Honda RC211V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2006: Tony Elias (Honda RC211V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2007: Marco Melandri (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2007: Toni Elias (Honda RC212V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2007: Michel Fabrizio (Honda RC212V) *

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* Substitute

Photo de: Team Gresini

2007: Miguel Duhamel (Honda RC212V)*

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*Substitute

Photo by: Todd Corzett

2008: Alex DeAngelis (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2008: Shinya Nakano (Honda RC212V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2009: Toni Elias (Honda RC212V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2009: Alex DeAngelis (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2010 Marco Simoncelli (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2010: Marco Melandri (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2011: Marco Simoncelli (Honda RC212V)

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Photo de: Team Gresini

2011: Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda RC212V)

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Foto de: Team Gresini

2011: Kousuke Akiyoshi (Honda RC212V) *

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* Sustituto

Foto de: Bridgestone Corporation

2012: Alvaro Bautista (Honda RC213V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2012: Michele Pirro (FTR-Honda MGP12)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2013: Alvaro Bautista (Honda RC213V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2013: Bryan Staring (FTR-Honda MGP13)

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Foto de: Team Gresini

2014: Alvaro Bautista (Honda RC213V)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2014: Scott Redding (Honda RCV1000R)

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Photo by: Team Gresini

2015: Álvaro Bautista (April RS-GP)

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2015: Marco Melandri (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo de: Aprilia Racing

2015: Michael Laverty (Aprilia RS-GP)*

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*Sustituto

Foto de: Aprilia Racing

2015: Stefan Bradl (Aprilia RS-GP)*

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*Replaces Marco Melandri from mid-season

Photo by: Aprilia Racing

2016: Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2016: Stefan Bradl (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2017: Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2017: Sam Lowes (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2018: Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2018: Scott Redding (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2019: Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2019: Andrea Iannone (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2020: Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2020: Bradley Smith (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2020: Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia RS-GP)*

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*Replaces Bradley Smith in recent races

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2021: Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2021: Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia RS-GP)

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Photo by: Gresini Racing

2021: Maverick Vinales (Aprilia RS-GP)*

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*Replaces Lorenzo Savadori in the last few races

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2022: Enea Bastianini (Ducati GP21)

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Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2022: Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati GP21)

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Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images