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Fausto Gresini

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Fausto Gresini
Gresini at the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix.
NationalityItalian
Born(1961-01-23)23 January 1961
Imola, Italy
Died23 February 2021(2021-02-23) (aged 60)
Bologna, Italy
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1983 - 1994
First race1983 125cc Nations Grand Prix
Last race1994 125cc European Grand Prix
First win1984 125cc Swedish Grand Prix
Last win1992 125cc British Grand Prix
Team(s)Garelli, Honda
Championships125cc - 1985, 1987
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
132 21 47 17 13 1093

Fausto Gresini (23 January 1961 – 23 February 2021) was an Italian professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1983 to 1994, most prominently as a two-time 125cc world champion riding for the Garelli factory racing team.[1]

After his racing career, he formed the Gresini Racing team which he operated until his death from COVID-19 in 2021.

Motorcycle racing career

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Gresini was born at Imola. He began racing in 1978 at the age of 17 on a Minarelli 50 in Italy, and in 1983 he joined the Grand Prix circuit with the MBA team.

During his riding career, Gresini won two world championship titles in the 125cc class in 1985 and 1987. He was vice-champion in the 125cc class in 1986 aboard a Garelli and in 1991 and 1992 with Honda. He accumulated 21 victories and raced in 132 Grand Prix with 15 second places and 11 third places. He is tied with Ángel Nieto for the record of 11 consecutive victories in the 125 class, accomplished across 1986 and 1987. He holds the record of the most 125cc victories in one season with ten in 1987 - he crashed in the final race but won all others.

Racing team management career

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Gresini founded the Gresini Racing team in 1997 with partner with Fabrizio Cecchini as the technical director, and served as its team principal until his death. His team has won three world championships: Daijiro Kato in the 2001 250cc world championship, Toni Elías in the 2010 Moto2 world championship, and Jorge Martín in the 2018 Moto3 world championship. The team also took the inaugural MotoE World Cup in 2019 with rider Matteo Ferrari.

Gresini experienced two tragedies during his tenure as team principal. Daijiro Kato died in hospital two weeks after crashing during the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix on 6 April 2003.[2] On 23 October 2011, the Gresini team suffered another loss when rider Marco Simoncelli died soon after an accident at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The team's other rider at the time was Hiroshi Aoyama.

Death

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On 27 December 2020, Gresini was hospitalized at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna after contracting COVID-19 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. After an apparent initial improvement in his condition, on 18 February 2021 he worsened with a serious lung infection. He died in hospital from the illness' complications on 23 February 2021, at the age of 60, one month after his birthday.[3]

Grand Prix career statistics

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Points system from 1969 to 1987.

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1988 to 1992

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Points system from 1993 onwards.

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points Rank Wins
1983 125cc MBA FRA
NC
NAT
7
GER
6
ESP
6
AUT
4
YUG
NC
NED
10
BEL
9
GBR
6
SWE
2
RSM
NC
37 9th 0
1984 125cc MBA NAT
NC
ESP
NC
GER
4
51 3rd 1
Garelli FRA
4
NED
NC
GBR
3
SWE
1
RSM
3
1985 125cc Garelli ESP
2
GER
2
NAT
NC
AUT
1
NED
3
BEL
1
FRA
2
GBR
4
SWE
3
RSM
1
109 1st 3
1986 125cc Garelli ESP
1
NAT
1
GER
2
AUT
NC
NED
2
BEL
4
FRA
2
GBR
NC
SWE
1
RSM
3
BWU
1
114 2nd 4
1987 125cc Garelli ESP
1
GER
1
NAT
1
AUT
1
NED
1
FRA
1
GBR
1
SWE
1
CZE
1
RSM
1
POR
DNF
150 1st 10
1988 125cc Garelli ESP
4
NAT
NC
GER
-
AUT
-
NED
NC
BEL
-
YUG
-
FRA
-
GBR
7
SWE
NC
CZE
NC
22 21st 0
1989 125cc Aprilia JPN
11
AUS
7
ESP
5
NAT
3
GER
NC
AUT
5
NED
6
BEL
7
FRA
5
GBR
8
SWE
5
CZE
14
102 5th 0
1990 125cc Honda JPN
7
ESP
3
NAT
NC
GER
-
AUT
NC
YUG
6
NED
8
BEL
8
FRA
NC
GBR
8
SWE
5
CZE
7
HUN
4
AUS
5
102 8th 0
1991 125cc Honda JPN
2
AUS
2
ESP
2
ITA
1
GER
NC
AUT
1
EUR
2
NED
4
FRA
3
GBR
2
RSM
3
CZE
6
MAL
4
181 2nd 2
1992 125cc Honda JPN
NC
AUS
5
MAL
8
ESP
2
ITA
5
EUR
3
GER
2
NED
2
HUN
3
FRA
NC
GBR
1
BRA
6
RSA
7
118 2nd 1
1993 125cc Honda AUS
5
MAL
8
JPN
NC
ESP
NC
AUT
8
GER
17
NED
DNF
EUR
17
RSM
10
GBR
7
CZE
-
ITA
10
USA
16
FIM
4
61 11th 0
1994 125cc Honda AUS
4
MAL
6
JPN
18
ESP
DNF
AUT
8
GER
13
NED
16
ITA
17
FRA
10
GBR
20
CZE
-
USA
DNS
ARG
NC
EUR
10
46 16th 0

See also

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Gresini Racing

References

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  1. ^ "Fausto Gresini career statistics at MotoGP.com". Archived from the original on 2012-09-02. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  2. ^ Investigation committee into the cause of Daijiro Kato's fatal crash publish their results MotoGP.com Retrieved 2015-07-21
  3. ^ Il team annuncia: Fausto Gresini ci ha lasciato (in Italian) Retrieved 23 February 2021
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