The Teatro Titano of San Marino was the venue on Thursday as the riders
of GO&FUN Honda Gresini revealed their motorcycles for the season
ahead.
Spaniard Alvaro Bautista remains with Fausto Gresini’s team for a third
straight MotoGP™ season on the Honda RC213V, as Great Britain’s Scott
Redding climbs up to the premier class of the World Championship with an
Open-specification Honda RCV1000R, having ended 2013 as the runner-up
in the Moto2™ category.
In Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3, Niccolo Antonelli is now joined by Enea Bastianini who collected two race victories in last year’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, finishing fourth overall. The pair of Italians will be piloting KTM machinery.
"2014 is a really important year for Gresini Racing," commented Team Manager Fausto Gresini. "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! Since 1997 we have had a permanent presence on the Grand Prix scene and we are also one of the few Independent Teams who can boast of having participated every year in MotoGP™ since the beginning of the new four-stroke era in 2002. All these things, added to two world titles, 40 GP victories, 109 podium finishes, 29 pole positions and more than 5,000 World Championship points put our team among the most important entities in motorcycling worldwide."
Bautista now looks forward to claiming a first podium finish since 2012.
"I am happy to continue my adventure in MotoGP™ with Gresini for the third consecutive year and there is a great family atmosphere," says the Toledo-born rider. "We unfortunately missed out on the podium last year, even though we close on more than one occasion. In general, I consider my second half of 2013 to have been very good and found myself battling with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) in almost every race. We have done a great job developing the Showa suspension and this puts us in a good position and starting with a good base for 2014. My goal is to do well from the first race; the official bike are always difficult to beat, but I am convinced that, working well, we can be on the podium several times."
For Redding - who at Donington Park in 2008 became the youngest ever winner of a World Championship race, winning in 125s at 15 years of age - this year brings a new challenge, as he steps up from Moto2™ in which he challenged for the title.
"Everything is new to me but I like challenges like this," the Englishman begins. "Everyone in the team has been very welcoming and I am eager to get back in the saddle for Sepang testing, for what is the real start of the season. My wrist (broken at Phillip Island last year) is now better and I have been training hard because I want to be able to test in the best possible conditions. I have not set specific targets for the first tests, but of course I will try to reduce the gap to the leading Open bikes. During the season, my intention is to be the best amongst those riders. I loved the RCV1000R when I tried it in Valencia (in November) and now we wait to see what happens at Sepang."
As Redding narrowly missed out on the Moto2™ crown in 2013, Bautista ended the MotoGP™ season in sixth position overall and as the leading satellite Honda rider.
In Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3, Niccolo Antonelli is now joined by Enea Bastianini who collected two race victories in last year’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, finishing fourth overall. The pair of Italians will be piloting KTM machinery.
"2014 is a really important year for Gresini Racing," commented Team Manager Fausto Gresini. "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! Since 1997 we have had a permanent presence on the Grand Prix scene and we are also one of the few Independent Teams who can boast of having participated every year in MotoGP™ since the beginning of the new four-stroke era in 2002. All these things, added to two world titles, 40 GP victories, 109 podium finishes, 29 pole positions and more than 5,000 World Championship points put our team among the most important entities in motorcycling worldwide."
Bautista now looks forward to claiming a first podium finish since 2012.
"I am happy to continue my adventure in MotoGP™ with Gresini for the third consecutive year and there is a great family atmosphere," says the Toledo-born rider. "We unfortunately missed out on the podium last year, even though we close on more than one occasion. In general, I consider my second half of 2013 to have been very good and found myself battling with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) in almost every race. We have done a great job developing the Showa suspension and this puts us in a good position and starting with a good base for 2014. My goal is to do well from the first race; the official bike are always difficult to beat, but I am convinced that, working well, we can be on the podium several times."
For Redding - who at Donington Park in 2008 became the youngest ever winner of a World Championship race, winning in 125s at 15 years of age - this year brings a new challenge, as he steps up from Moto2™ in which he challenged for the title.
"Everything is new to me but I like challenges like this," the Englishman begins. "Everyone in the team has been very welcoming and I am eager to get back in the saddle for Sepang testing, for what is the real start of the season. My wrist (broken at Phillip Island last year) is now better and I have been training hard because I want to be able to test in the best possible conditions. I have not set specific targets for the first tests, but of course I will try to reduce the gap to the leading Open bikes. During the season, my intention is to be the best amongst those riders. I loved the RCV1000R when I tried it in Valencia (in November) and now we wait to see what happens at Sepang."
As Redding narrowly missed out on the Moto2™ crown in 2013, Bautista ended the MotoGP™ season in sixth position overall and as the leading satellite Honda rider.
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