Esponsorama Racing has officially confirmed that Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini will join the team in the 2021 season in the MotoGP World Championship.

Raul Romero – Esponsorama Racing

“Esponsorama Racing demonstrates once again the evolution carried out in recent years, going from being the tail of the category to fighting for front positions thanks to the technical and sporting restructuring of the team added to the arrival of Johann Zarco and the evolution of Tito Rabat in recent years. Time has shown that things well done pay off and we only have words of thanks to our partners such as Ducati, Öhlins or Brembo and all our sponsors. Having Luca Marini with us next year and the structure of the SKY VR46 is a source of pride since, to this day, it is one of the strongest structures in the championship in all categories. Next year we will make a leap in quality in which we have high expectations of continuing to show that we are a benchmark team in the MotoGP World Championship.”

The two young Italian riders will make their debut in MotoGP in 2021 with the Ducati Desmosedici GP bikes entrusted to the Andorra team.

Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager

“We are very pleased to have reached this agreement thanks to which two young Italian talents will be able to make their debut in MotoGP next year on our Desmosedici GP bikes entrusted to the Esponsorama Racing team. This year Raul Romero’s team has shown that it has reached an excellent level of professionalism. Thanks to the renewed technical support that we will provide to the Andorra team in 2021, we are sure that it will support Enea and Luca in the best possible way in their first rookie season. Both Bastianini and Marini have shown to be highly competitive in Moto2 this year, and we are sure that the time has come for them to move up to MotoGP. We will provide them with all the necessary support to accompany them on their way to the top category. With this decision, Ducati intends to continue with its strategy to enhance the young talents, that has already led Pecco Bagnaia to make his debut in MotoGP with Pramac Racing in 2019 and to reach an important goal for 2021: to wear the colours of the official Ducati team“.

The structure will feature with two Ducati GP19s with improvements throughout the season, which will allow the two young riders to fight for the title of ¨Rookie of the year¨ in the category.

Born in Rimini in 1997, Enea Bastianini participated in his first season in Moto3 in 2014 after two victories in the Rookies Cup in 2013. In his debut year in the World Championship, Enea conquered three podiums taking his first victory the following year together with other five podium finishes and ending third in the overall standings his second season in the class. 

2016 Moto3 runner-up in the Championship with six additional podiums to his credit, including one victory, the rider from Romagna raced two more seasons in this class picking up several successes.

In 2019, Enea stepped up to Moto2 taking his first podium in Brno, Czech Republic. In the current season, in his second year in the intermediate class, Enea has so far scored three wins and seven podiums and is fighting for the title: he occupies the second position in the overall standings, just 7 points behind the championship leader.

Enea Bastianini

“I am very happy to get into MotoGP with Ducati and Esponsorama Racing. Now I have to concentrate on finishing the season, since I would like to go up as World Champion although I know it will not be easy. The following season, several riders made the leap to MotoGP, we started a new adventure together with the fastest riders in the world in which I think that together with the team I will be able to achieve good result.”

Luca Marini, born in Urbino in 1997, joined Moto2 in 2016 after having distinguished himself in Moto3 in the Italian and Spanish Championships. After two seasons of apprenticeship, Luca joined the SKY Racing Team VR46 in 2018, and took his first victory, together with four other podiums and two pole positions. The rider from Marche continued with the same team in Moto2 the following year, adding two more victories and four podiums to his tally. This year Marini has so far achieved three wins and five podiums in total and, with 155 points, occupies the third position in the Championship, just 23 points from the top of the standings.

Luca Marini

“Getting to MotoGP is the dream that every rider has had since childhood. Having this great opportunity and being able to share it with Sky Racing Team VR46, Esponsorama Racing and Ducati is even better. In these years with the team I have accumulated a lot of experience, I have grown, and I have achieved the first important results. We are in a crucial phase of the season; we will continue to work hard to reach the maximum goal before taking this big step together.“

Source: MCNews.com.au