Rennie Scaysbrook | February 23, 2021
Fausto Gresini has passed away following a long battle with Covid-19.
The Italian, former double 125cc World Champion in 1985 and 1987 and highly successful MotoGP team manager, was initially placed in an induced coma with assisted breathing but began to show signs of improvement in January, however, his condition deteriorated in recent weeks when he was placed back into a coma as he battled respiratory illness and pneumonia caused by Covid-19.
Along with his two 125cc World Championship titles as a rider, Gresini’s eponymous team Gresini Racing was hugely successful in its own right. His journey as Team Manager began in 1997, and the Gresini team took a World Championship for the first time in 2001 with Japanese rider Daijiro Kato as the two dominated the 250cc class together.
Further championships came in 2010 in Moto2 with Toni Elias and 2018 in Moto3 with Jorge Martin, as well as 2019 as the team won the inaugural Enel MotoE World Cup with Matteo Ferrari. The teams that bear his name will compete across all three classes of the MotoGP World Championship in 2021, from MotoGP to Moto3, as well as MotoE, and will race on in his honor.
In recent times, Gresini has teamed with Aprilia to run the factory outfit with riders Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Lorenzo Savdori and Andrea Iannone.
“I’m deeply saddened by the loss of Fausto,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna Sports CEO. “He was a very good friend and I liked him a lot. I have been following the news on his condition closely and I was lucky enough to be able to speak to him even as he was in hospital. I am so very sorry to suffer a loss like this in the paddock and I want to send my deepest condolences to his family, friends and the members of his team.”
Tributes have poured in from every corner of the motorcycle racing world for the Italian legend, and Cycle News joins them in sending our condolences to Gresini’s family, friends, team, and many fans across the world.
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