The Go & Fun Honda Gresini MotoGP team was introduced today in San Marino, the Fausto Gresini-led squad of Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding showing off the new livery of their Hondas.
Bautista will ride the factory spec RC213V while Redding will make his MotoGP debut on the new RCV1000R in the new “Open” category.
“Everything for me is completely different here: it’s a new challenge, which is what I like,” Redding said at the team’s unveiling. “All the guys at Team Go & Fun Honda Gresini were really nice, very welcoming, so I felt pretty comfortable right from the first day of testing in Valencia last November. Now I’m hungry to go to Sepang to start the season. I’ve been training hard because I want to come to these three days of testing really strong and fit. Now my wrist is pretty okay to ride properly. I will go in Malaysia just to see how it goes, but also to try to close the gap on the front guys and also on the other Production racers. Anyway, my goal for this season is to be the first Open class rider.”
Gresini is looking for big things from the team in the coming season.
“2014 is a really important year for Gresini Racing,” Gresini said. “First, it will be our 18th year in the World Championship. An important goal, thanks to which we can say with pride that our organization has… become of age. Go & Fun will continue to instill in the team the incredible energy and dynamism that we’ve enjoyed throughout 2013, and in this season we want to be on top with both riders. Alvaro [Bautista] deserves to be put amongst the top riders, having already proved to be able to get a top-five finish at every race. This year we expect a further improvement from him, hoping to attend the podium frequently.
“On the other hand, we have high expectations on Redding’s debut. Scott is young, but already very experienced: I like especially his attitude, because he never gives up. Our goal with him is to come out on top in the newly formed Open class.”
As for Bautista, he’s ready to start his third year with the team.’
“I’m really happy to be here again for the third year running,” the Spaniard said. “The Team Go & Fun Honda Gresini is like a family for me, and I always enjoy a great atmosphere inside the garage. Unfortunately, last year we missed to step on the podium, but starting from mid-season, we were able to be more competitive and to show a really good consistency. We achieved good results thanks also to the good work made by Showa on the suspensions. I battled in many races with Valentino Rossi, who was riding a full factory bike, so we are really optimistic ahead of the forthcoming season. We know that we have a good base, so my goal is to be competitive right from the start, at the first race in Qatar.”
