GRESINI UNVEILS SIMONCELLI TRIBUTE LIVERY FOR MISANO SAN MARINO GP

Gresini Racing has unveiled a special MotoGP tribute livery for this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, honouring the late Marco Simoncelli. The Italian rider, who tragically died following an incident at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix, made his MotoGP debut with Gresini in 2010 on Honda machinery. He then spent two seasons with the team, scoring two podiums.

The tribute also reflects Misano’s long-standing connection to Simoncelli: in 2012, the Misano World Circuit was renamed in his honour. For Sunday’s race, Gresini will run a livery designed to mirror the colours Simoncelli raced in during his Gresini years, when the squad was sponsored by San Carlo. Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer will ride with the tribute scheme, representing the 2010 and 2011 versions of the machine.

The team unveiled the liveries on Thursday evening at Misano in the presence of Simoncelli’s late father, Paolo. Speedweek added that the presentation also included Carmelo and Carlos Ezpeleta, as well as Ducati Corse CEO Gigi Dall’Igna, alongside the wider Gresini Racing Team led by Nadia Padovani. Gresini framed the moment as part of its broader 30th-anniversary celebrations, with the statement describing the return to Misano as both “heartfelt” and “inevitable.” In the team’s words, “This Sunday, the fairings of Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer’s bikes will pay full tribute to the machine that accompanied Marco Simoncelli during his tragically short MotoGP career.”

Speedweek further noted that Marquez and Aldeguer will run in white and red, with both the Ducati Desmosedici and the riders’ leather suits in those iconic colours.

Simoncelli’s Misano record helps explain the significance of the tribute. He finished fourth in the 2011 San Marino Grand Prix held at the circuit. The Crash.net report also noted that Gresini typically uses the San Marino round for one-off liveries as a nod to its late founder Fausto Gresini, who died in 2021. Earlier this year, the team ran a tribute livery at the German Grand Prix to Sete Gibernau’s 2003 Sachsenring win.

Misano has been a productive venue for Gresini in recent seasons, with Alex Marquez taking third place at last year’s San Marino Grand Prix. The report also referenced recent success at the same circuit, stating that Marc Marquez won the San Marino race in 2024 before finishing third in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix held at Misano.