Gresini Racing celebrates its roots: tribute to Barros and a historic livery for the Brazilian GP

Gresini Racing brings to light the beginning of its story, which started precisely with the legendary Brazilian Alex Barros.

With the special livery for the Brazilian GP, Gresini Racing is simply dusting off the dawn of its beautiful history (30 seasons!) in the World Championship, when the name MotoGP was still a few years away. It all began in 1997 in the then 500cc class, with Fausto Gresini as founder and team principal, and Alex Barros as the rider, the very Brazilian two-wheeled legend. What better occasion to bring back the colors of that Honda? Today, with Nadia Padovani, the founder’s wife and the successful head of the team, history returns and we’ll see the two Ducatis of Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer sporting that mythical livery once again.

As mentioned earlier, it was 1997 when Fausto Gresini’s team officially debuted in the then 500cc class with a very privateer Honda NSR 500 V twin-cylinder. The rider was none other than Brazil’s two-wheeled legend, the iconic Alex Barros. He was the one who would take the Faenza-based squad to its first-ever world podium: the opportunity came at the 11th GP at Donington. It was a one-two for the factory Hondas of Doohan and Okada, but on the third step stood Alex Barros himself, delivering an incredible result—merely the first in what would become a long list of successful finishes.

Revisiting legends of the past is always a thrill, but it must be channeled as momentum to be even more competitive. After a stellar 2025, the season of the reigning MotoGP runner-up, Alex Marquez, is starting a bit under the radar, while last year’s best rookie, Fermin Aldeguer, has just returned from a serious injury that kept him sidelined for a long time. Yesterday the Sprint was nothing spectacular, with the first finishing 7th and the second 14th at the flag. Today it’s time for the GP, the long race, with Aldeguer 7th and Marquez 8th on the starting grid. With a livery to honor in the home of Gresini’s first great rider.