Moto2 – It's official, Toni Elias and Vladimir Ivanov with Team Gresini

The Team Gresini riders for the 2 Moto2010 Championship will be: the Spaniard Toni Elias and the Russian Vladimir Ivanov. With Toni Elias, Team Gresini renews a pleasant partnership made up of positive experiences in MotoGP in 2006, 2007 and 2009, with 1 victory and three podiums (35 podiums in the Motorcycle World Championship with 10 victories). For Vladimir Ivanov, however, it is an absolute debut in the world championship. The rider from St. Petersburg won the Russian national Supersport title in 2003 and 2004 and had other positive experiences in the Italian Supersport national championships in 2009 and German 2006 (two podiums), 2007 (three victories), 2008 (four victories and second place finish) . An expert rider and a debutant in the world championship driving the Moriwaki MD 600 of Team Gresini for the unprecedented Moto 2 championship which replaces the 250 class. Another exciting challenge for Toni Elias and Fausto Gresini who they will face with the usual and stainless determination passing on experience to the rookie Vladimir Ivanov who will turn 26 on January 25th.

Toni Elias
“I am very happy to be able to continue racing with Team Gresini because for me it is a family. Together with Moriwaki we begin a new adventure in Moto2. We are strongly confident in this project and we will all work with great determination to achieve maximum results."

Vladimir Ivanov
“It is a great fortune for me to join Team Gresini with Moto2 because it is one of the most prestigious teams in the World Championship. I have a good knowledge of the Supersport bikes with which I also raced last year in the Italian Speed ​​Championship and this will certainly help me to go fast with the Moto2s too. I am very excited to race alongside an expert rider like Toni Elias and I am definitely anxious to get on the bike with the hope of being able to achieve good results soon.”

Midori Moriwaki (Chief Executive Officer Moriwaki)
“First of all I would like to thank Team GRESINI for choosing the MORIWAKI MD600 to participate in the demanding Moto2 World Championship. For Moriwaki it is a very important collaboration, because Team Gresini has a great history in the world championship as well as having considerable and significant experience.
We are happy and also excited to have been involved in the project as a chassis manufacturer and we hope that our collaboration can bring more excitement to the new Moto2 Championship and attract a greater number of fans in this season that is about to begin.”

Fausto Gresini
“I believe that Moto2 is, for our Team, a very interesting project to grow in close collaboration with MORIWAKI. Furthermore, I am definitely happy to be able to undertake this exciting challenge with an expert driver like Toni Elias and a rookie like Vladimir Ivanov. Having Toni as a reference driver stimulates us considerably and being able to transmit experience and professionalism to a novice like Vladimir gives us an additional boost. Elias is a rider we know very well, we have shared moments of joy with him, he is determined, gritty and professionally prepared to develop this important project with us and I am convinced that he has all it takes to be a protagonist of this race race after race. category aiming decisively to win the title.
For Vladimir Ivanov it is a completely new world that we will let him discover step by step with the enthusiasm that, over the years, we have always managed to convey to our pilots. With us he will find the stimuli to achieve results and satisfaction. He has excellent knowledge of the Supersport category and will therefore be able to adapt easily to Moto2."

Gresini Racing team