MotoGP | Masini: “Fausto knew how to read the riders, now Gresini follows the trail”

When Fausto Gresini founded his team in 1997, he never expected to be at the center of the MotoGP market in 2024, with the most successful rider in recent years and who has divided more than anyone else. Marc Marquez will leave Gresini Racing at the end of this season to join the official Ducati team, but the history of the Faenza team, which has lasted well over twenty years, will continue even after Marquez.

The line-up of the Gresini Racing team for 2025 is still to be discovered. But, if the future is still uncertain, the past is well rooted not only in the roll of honor and in the palmarès of the drivers who have raced there, but also in the hearts of those in this team who feel at home, in the family. This is the case for Michele Masini, Gresini Racing Sports Director, who in a chat with Motorsport.com told us about the beginnings, anecdotes and the memory of Fausto, more vivid than ever.

Michele, you were born and raised in the Gresini team, which is now like a family. To get to the role of sports director, where did you start?
“It’s a great passion born from the family, which followed cars, motorbikes… Motors in general. Since I had the opportunity to move around independently with the scooter, I went to the Racing Department at Fausto Gresini which at the time was managed by Fabrizio Cecchini. I spent my days there watching guys working and trying to do anything, but clearly it wasn’t possible. Fabrizio helped me a lot at the time, but advised me to finish school first. In 2006 he gave me the opportunity to meet Fausto, who confirmed that he would finish his studies and then we would see if something could be done. So, in the winter of 2007 Fausto took over a Honda NFS100 trophy with Honda Italia, he called me together with Fabrizio and in 2008 I was hired”.

“I started as a mechanic, but I was a handyman. Fabrizio immediately gave me a lot of trust by handing me the keys to the warehouse. I would arrive early in the morning to open the door… If I look back, it was a big sacrifice, but nothing ever weighed on me. Maybe I shouldn’t even use the word sacrifice. I must say that I did a bit of all the roles, in the end I understood that where I was best suited was not the manual area. I went from mechanic to parts manager, we saw all the current champions pass by: Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Romano Fenati, Andrea Locatelli. There were lots of kids, the largest group of Italian riders who are currently in the world championship. In 2009, when Fausto signed for Marco Simoncelli, with whom I went to middle school together, he moved me as spare parts for his motorbikes. So I continued with this role. From there I became team coordinator for Moto2 and Moto3, but in 2016 Fausto needed a coordinator figure in MotoGP with Aprilia”.

Then Gresini became an independent team in MotoGP
“After what happened to Fausto, Nadia (Padovani, wife of Fausto Gresini and current Gresini Racing team manager) took over. ed) with a somewhat unexpected decision: to continue. So he gave me the role of sporting director, which means full trust in me. I never thought about accepting or not, we would have carried forward Fausto’s dream, that of returning to having an independent team in MotoGP. I think we’re doing it pretty well because we’re trying to have great results. Despite twenty years of experience behind her, it was a big gamble, Nadia put a lot of herself into it, we got the most competitive bikes we could have. A fantastic project has started.”

The memory of Fausto is still very much alive and perhaps it is even stronger for you, in some way he raised you. How much of Fausto Gresini is there in what you do every day?
“So much, there’s so much. I can say that Fausto, as well as Fabrizio, were the fathers of racing. I see Fausto a lot, especially in Faenza, in the racing department. We were always together on the circuit, but he had four categories and really took care of everything, from the sponsors to the drivers. It was difficult to have tight time with him. In Faenza we enjoyed him a lot, he knew how to bring out the best side in every person, he always encouraged you. I also remember many reproaches, he was very demanding. But then he would move on to the calmer side, at the end of the day maybe he would take you for an aperitif, he would ease the tension. There was always that lightness, which remained in our team. It must not be understood as superficiality, we play down every moment, and we still do. It’s such a stressful job, I think our key is to use lightness instead of the pressure that maybe you find in a factory team, which is much more different in terms of work approach.”

This characteristic of Fausto was also effective with the pilots, judging by the results that those who started with him now obtain, he knew how to choose… Without forgetting Marco Simoncelli.
“Fausto was a two-time world champion and had a particular eye for these things. I think this is the most difficult aspect to convey, because these experiences are lived firsthand. I find this thing in Nadia, for whom it doesn’t take much to read the character, the motivations… The key is always the way in which one communicates. Now we are trying to follow that path. This was the case with the choice of Alex Marquez.”

A somewhat unexpected choice for many… A bet.
“We had spoken to several riders in the year we signed with Alex for 2023. But in him we had found exactly what we were looking for. We wanted a motivated rider, not one who asked for official teams or bikes. He knew he could do well and it depended a lot on him. He wanted to get involved. We are looking for motivated people who in turn motivate us to do even better.”

Michele Masini, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gresini Racing

Gresini is not just a team, it is a family. Marc Marquez, who joined the team less than a year ago, also says this. However, the desire for new challenges is always great. The driver market is in turmoil… but so is the team market. If you were offered the role of sporting director in a factory team, would you leave Gresini?
“Honestly, we are so immersed in this year that I have never thought about it. This year is key, in my opinion. Never before have we had such a great opportunity to grow, both me and all the kids. We try to understand, especially from Marc, everything that goes into seeing a champion like him on the track. It’s very particular, there’s a different attention to every detail, there’s a fairly strong need compared to other riders, without belittling anyone. But it is a year that we must enjoy and absorb to the last, without thinking about what we will do and where we will arrive. Clearly, the expectations are huge, but we are really enjoying it, right now I’m only thinking about 2024.”

Also because the future, whether immediate or not, is expected to be very different: the new regulation comes into force in 2027. Is there any aspect you would like to change or welcome?
“The regulation change is especially useful for us satellite teams, because in 2027 we will be able to shuffle the cards a bit, especially regarding the choices of the drivers. In that year it was as if all the teams had factory bikes. The first year, the bikes will all be the same and it will be an important card to play for us, who live off results that give us visibility, that bring us sponsors that allow us to move forward. Then, like every regulation, it will have its evolution and the bikes will change. It will also depend on the skill of the engineers, like Ducati now. It will be a good challenge and they don’t scare us.”

Liberty Media also enters. Winning choice from the point of view of MotoGP as a product?
“I am absolutely in favor, also because I am a big fan of Formula 1. This has grown so much through Liberty Media, now everyone refers to the TV series, to the glamour. But in the end we would all like him in the MotoGP paddock. It is clear that the teams will also have to be ready to discover themselves, because people from the outside want to see what they don’t notice or hear. Maybe it’s a little inconvenient, but it will be a great growth and I’m already seeing some excellent activations from Dorna too to create events. It’s true that the world is changing a lot, if I think back to 2010, my first year in MotoGP, everything was much simpler. Now the organization is very complex and will grow a lot from a commercial and media point of view. I’m very supportive.”