MotoGP | Gresini Racing, Merlini: “We built the budget from scratch”

MotoGP Gresini Racing Project – The commercial and marketing director, Carlo Merlini, spoke of the great work done by the team and partners to realize the MotoGP project, strongly supported by the late Fausto Gresini. Merlini also praised Indonesia's commitment to Federal Oil which continues to support the Italian team.

Carlo Merlini statements on the MotoGP project

“Building a budget for a project normally requires a lot of dedication and working method. In our case there were some factors that certainly exasperated the complexity of the work, I put before all the enormous lack that we had to face in February, it is a void that weighs heavily, which will never be filled. Beyond this emotional aspect, there is also the size of the budget to build when talking about a project in the MotoGP class. Furthermore, after 7 years of joint venture with Aprilia in which we essentially managed the race operation on the track, we found ourselves rebuilding the revenue budget starting essentially from scratch. The network of relationships we have in place was very useful and allowed us to develop some very important dialogues and therefore to sign the contract with Ducati with a budget that had already taken a certain shape. The business model of an Independent Team includes a great deal of attention to risk management and I must say that this has been among the greatest learnings in the 20 years of working alongside Fausto”.

Carlo Merlini statements on new sponsors

“The new Team Gresini MotoGP offers a very precious opportunity to the already consolidated partners of the lower categories: the possibility of following us in this project, to develop sponsorship in the main category with all the implications that it offers, starting from the TV audience numbers and by the media following. In fact, we have already announced that old acquaintances such as Federal Oil, Astra Otoparts, YouAll and Kapriol will be on board. But obviously a new page in the book to be written is also the opportunity for new partners to enter the #gresinifamily: in this regard I would like to mention FlexBox, among the first to join the Ducati Gresini MotoGP project, with a key role as that of the title sponsor ”.

Carlo Merlini statements on the Indonesian market

“It is known that Gresini Racing has deep roots in Indonesia, for a decade now. A bond that derives from the fact that Indonesia is a key nation for the MotoGP universe, which gathers the largest following on a global level right there. For us it has become the main foreign market in which we have developed very important collaborations. The opportunity to jump onto the Gresini MotoGP platform was seized first and foremost by Federal Oil, already title sponsor of Gresini Moto2 which chose to move its commitment to MotoGP, becoming the first ever Indonesian sponsor of the premier class! And then Astra Otoparts also arrived and others will be announced soon".