The 2023 season brings new challenges for many in the paddock as we get set to pick up where we left off in Valencia at the Official MotoGP™ Sepang Test, which kicks off in a couple of weeks in Malaysia.
It’s fresh beginnings for a number of riders, as well as teams and manufacturers, but we’re going to take a look at some of the crucial cogs in each garage: the crew chiefs. There’s been some changes ahead of the 2023 campaign, so let’s have a look at who each rider has by their side for this season.
First, let’s start with the crew chiefs who aren’t taking on a new challenge. Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) long time crew chief Santi Hernandez remains by the number 93’s side, with Diego Gubellini, Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) crew chief, also going nowhere. 2022 title winning duo Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Cristian Gabarrini remain together too, as does Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Antonio Jimenez.
Daniele Romagnoli will be Jorge Martin’s crew chief in the Prima Pramac Racing box once again, with Andres Madrid sticking by Brad Binder’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) side. Binder’s new teammate in 2023 will be Jack Miller, and the Australian is bringing his Ducati crew chief, Christian Pupulin, with him to the Austrian factory. Patrick Primmer will sit beside Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) again, as David Muñoz remains with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).
Now for the changes – and there’s quite a few of them, most notably in the Honda stables. Both Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) will embark on their HRC adventure with new crew chiefs in the form of Giacomo Guidotti, Takaaki Nakagami’s former crew chief, and David Garcia. Nakagami, therefore, welcomes Klaus Nöhles to his team as the German makes the step up from HRC’s test team.
Mir’s long-time crew chief, Frankie Carchedi, heads to Gresini Racing MotoGP™ to work with sophomore Fabio Di Giannantonio, whose 2022 crew chief, Donatello Giovanotti, moves to the other side of the garage to work with Alex Marquez. Rins’ former crew chief, Manu Cazeaux, will join Maverick Viñales in the Aprilia Racing box.
Viñales’ 2021 and 2022 crew chief, Giovanni Mattarollo, sticks with Aprilia but links up with Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA Aprilia RNF MotoGP™ Team). The Portuguese rider’s right-hand man in KTM colours was Paul Trevathan, however he’s now back working with Pol Espargaro in the new-look Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing outfit.
Pol Espargaro’s teammate, 2022 Moto2™ World Champion Augusto Fernandez, will have Remy Gardner’s MotoGP™ crew chief Alex Merhand guiding the Spaniard through his debut premier class campaign. Meanwhile, Fernandez’s 2022 title-winning crew chief, Massimo Branchini, embarks on a new adventure with Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) as the Frenchman’s former crew chief, Marco Rigamonti, joins Enea Bastianini in the Ducati Lenovo Team ranks.
Elsewhere, Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA Aprilia RNF MotoGP™ Team) will be working alongside Noe Herrera again. The duo formed a great partnership in Moto2™ when Fernandez, as a rookie, went head-to-head with Gardner for the 2021 title.
After a number of much-needed weeks of recuperating during the winter break, the riders and crew chiefs will be back in full flow at the Official Sepang Test in early February.