Fausto Gresini

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 to , most prominently as a two-time 125cc world champion riding for the Garelli factory racing team.

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

Motorcycle racing career 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 Gresini founded the Gresini Racing team in 1997 with partner 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. 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 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.

Grand Prix career statistics 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 FRANC NAT7 GER6 ESP6 AUT4 YUGNC NED10 BEL9 GBR6 SWE2 RSMNC 37 9th 01984125cc MBA NATNC ESPNC GER4513rd1 Garelli FRA4 NEDNC GBR3 SWE1 RSM3 1985 125cc Garelli ESP2 GER2 NATNC AUT1 NED3 BEL1 FRA2 GBR4 SWE3 RSM1 109 1st 3 1986 125cc Garelli ESP1 NAT1 GER2 AUTNC NED2 BEL4 FRA2 GBRNC SWE1 RSM3 BWU1 114 2nd 4 1987 125cc Garelli ESP1 GER1 NAT1 AUT1 NED1 FRA1 GBR1 SWE1 CZE1 RSM1 PORDNF 150 1st 10 1988 125cc Garelli ESP4 NATNC GER- AUT- NEDNC BEL- YUG- FRA- GBR7 SWENC CZENC 22 21st 0 1989 125cc Aprilia JPN11 AUS7 ESP5 NAT3 GERNC AUT5 NED6 BEL7 FRA5 GBR8 SWE5 CZE14 102 5th 0 1990 125cc Honda JPN7 ESP3 NATNC GER- AUTNC YUG6 NED8 BEL8 FRANC GBR8 SWE5 CZE7 HUN4 AUS5 102 8th 0 1991 125cc Honda JPN2 AUS2 ESP2 ITA1 GERNC AUT1 EUR2 NED4 FRA3 GBR2 RSM3 CZE6 MAL4 181 2nd 2 1992 125cc Honda JPNNC AUS5 MAL8 ESP2 ITA5 EUR3 GER2 NED2 HUN3 FRANC GBR1 BRA6 RSA7 118 2nd 1 1993 125cc Honda AUS5 MAL8 JPNNC ESPNC AUT8 GER17 NEDDNF EUR17 RSM10 GBR7 CZE- ITA10 USA16 FIM4 61 11th 0 1994 125cc Honda AUS4 MAL6 JPN18 ESPDNF AUT8 GER13 NED16 ITA17 FRA10 GBR20 CZE- USADNS ARGNC EUR10 46 16th 0