What is MotoGP? Part-3 – Teams, Bikes And Riders

Let’s meet the 2022 MotoGP Season’s participants… It is a combination of Factory & Satellite Teams and Riders…

Welcome to the third and final part of our Introduction to MotoGP series. 

Till now, we have covered what really is the phenomenon called MotoGP and how everything plays out till the MotoGP race during the weekend

It is now time we introduce all the Factory Teams and the Satellite Teams along with their respective Bikes, Riders and Team Principals/Managers

On the MotoGP grid, there are two types of teams that compete for the respective championships

The first are the Factory Teams. These are the teams which are directly created and managed by the big-name motorcycle manufacturers (called Constructors) like Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Aprilia, Suzuki etc. The Factory Teams  are the ones who actually create the 300+ BHP, 1000 cc monsters that the exceptional Riders tame in order to compare in the championship. 

Their naming scheme is a combination of the Name Sponsor and the Factory Name of the constructor. The symbolic colours and graphics these Factory Teams run are called Factory Liveries which are trickled down to us consumers who get to ride on our street machines

The second ones are called Satellite Teams. These are the teams which are not from any constructors, but are created by a combination of sponsors and/or other individuals who either lease or buy the MotoGP machines from various constructors. 

The naming scheme followed here is the main name of the Satellite Team followed by the Constructor name from which the bike is leased/bought. The colours and graphics these teams have on their machines are representation of their own team and are completely different from the Factory Liveries

Let’s meet the Factory Teams and Riders – 

  1. Factory Team – Aprilia Racing  

Riders – Aleix Espargaro (Spain) and Maverick Vinales (Spain).

Bike – RS-GP with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Dario Raimondi

Test Rider – Lorenzo Savadori

  1. Factory Team – Ducati Lenovo Team

Riders – Jack Miller (Australia) and Francesco Bagnaia (Italy).

Bike – Desmosedici with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Paolo Ciabatti

Test Rider – Michele Pirro 

  1. Satellite Team – Gresini Racing MotoGP

Riders – Enea Bastianini (Italy) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Italy)

Bike – Desmosedici with V4 engine configuration from Ducati.

Team Principal/Manager – Nadia Padovani 

  1. Satellite Team – Mooney VR46 Racing Team

Riders – Luca Marini (Italy) and Marco Bezzecchi (Italy)

Bike – Desmosedici with V4 engine configuration from Ducati.

Team Principal/Manager – Pablo Nieto

  1. Factory Team – Repsol Honda Team

Riders – Marc Marquez (Spain) and Pol Espargaro (Spain)

Bike – RC213V with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Alberto Puig

Test Rider – Stefan Bradl

  1. Satellite Team – LCR Honda Idemitsu and LCR Honda Castrol

Riders – Alex Marquez (Spain) and Takaaki Nakagami (Japan)

Bike – RC213V with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Lucio Cecchinello

  1. Factory Team – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Riders – Brad Binder (South Africa) and Miguel Oliveira (Portugal)

Bike – RC16 with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Pit Beirer

Test Rider – Dani Pedrosa

  1. Satellite Team – Tech3 KTM Factory Racing

Riders – Raul Fernandez (Spain) and Remy Gardner (Australia)

Bike – RC16 with V4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Herve Poncharal

  1. Factory Team – Team Suzuki Ecstar

Riders – Alex Rins (Spain) and Joan Mir (Spain)

Bike – GSX-RR with Inline-4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Livio Suppo

Test Rider – Sylvain Guintoli

  1. Factory Team – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP

Riders – Fabio Quartararo (France) and Franco Morbidelli (Italy)

Bike – YZR-M1 with Inline-4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Massimo Meregalli

Test Rider – Cal Crutchlow

  1. Satellite Team – WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

Riders – Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) and Darryn Binder (South Africa)

Bike – YZR-M1 with Inline-4 engine configuration. 

Team Principal/Manager – Wilco Zeelenberg

And that will be all folks!! Now you are up to speed with what MotoGP is and who takes part in this global phenomenon. 

The 2022 Season of MotoGP Championship has started with the first race taking place at the Lusail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar. 

Stay Tuned for our first Race Report coming very soon…