Team Profile
Thirty years as an independent team
Founded by double 125cc world champion Fausto Gresini, the team has competed in motorcycle Grand Prix racing since 1997. Based in Faenza, Italy, it worked with Honda for many years before serving as Aprilia’s MotoGP partner team from 2015 to 2021. Although manufacturer partners changed, Gresini retained its own personnel organisation and team identity.
A recent turning point came in 2022, when the team switched to Ducati as an independent entrant and Enea Bastianini took four Grand Prix wins and third in the championship. In 2024, Marc Márquez won three Grands Prix and finished third here before moving to Ducati’s works team. Álex Márquez’s runner-up result in 2025 further demonstrated the independent team’s ability to fight near the front.
Ducati machinery and independent operation
Gresini uses the Ducati Desmosedici GP family with technical support from Ducati, while Gresini runs the race operation itself. For 2026, Álex Márquez is officially confirmed to receive current-year factory-spec machinery, allowing him to use the same generation of platform as Ducati’s factory riders within Gresini’s organisation.
Factory-spec machinery describes technical supply; independent team describes the racing organisation. Distinguishing the two explains why a Gresini rider can directly fight Ducati’s works team for a win, and prevents every rider on the same brand being credited to a single team.
The 2026 line-up and family continuity
The race riders are number 73 Álex Márquez and number 54 Fermín Aldeguer. The former has sustained experience with Gresini; the latter already won a premier-class Grand Prix in his rookie season in 2025. The pairing retains a front-running rider familiar with the team while allowing a young rider room to develop.
After Fausto’s death, Nadia Padovani continued to lead the team, making family continuity a distinctive part of Gresini. The official 2026 launch retained its light-blue identity. On track, the central task is to help the established and younger riders perform consistently and sustain the competitiveness developed in recent years.
What to watch
Compare Álex Márquez with Ducati’s works riders: on the same generation of platform, how do qualifying, starts and race execution affect the final result? Aldeguer’s challenge is to turn rookie-season highlights into consistent points. As viewing analysis, assess their different stages of development separately before considering the team results they build together.
Rider Line-up
Last checked: 1 October 2026 · Historical statistics and current points are maintained separately