Having put plans in place to return to being a true independent team again in MotoGP for 2022 after partnering with Aprilia’s factory effort since 2015, double 125cc world champion Fausto Gresini died in February last year after a lengthy battle with COVID-19.
With his widow Nadia Padovani taking over as team owner and team principal, Gresini Racing elected to push on with its 2022 plans and partnered with Ducati to field 2021-spec bikes for Bastianini and rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio.
And in emotional scenes, Bastianini took his first win in MotoGP for the Gresini squad in its first race back as an independent team.
Poleman Jorge Martin got a shocking launch off the line and dropped to eighth, as Pol Espargaro got the better of Honda team-mate Marc Marquez to take the lead from sixth on the grid.
Fitted with the soft front and rear Michelin tyre, the factory Honda duo ran one and two in the early stages – Espargaro keeping his six-time world champion at bay when Marquez ran…
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