Mattia Pasini joined the 125cc World Championship category in 2004, impressing in his debut season before going on to finish inside the top five for the next three seasons. He moved up to 250s in 2008, finishing eighth overall and then fifth in the Championship the following year. He was snapped up by the JiR Moto2 team in 2010 but parted ways with the team after Assen. He then rode two more races for other teams in 2010, and secured a ride with the Ioda Racing Project for 2011. 2012 saw the Italian step up to MotoGP™ with the Speed Master team at the controls of their CRT effort, then instead filling in for the Forward Racing team in Moto2™ in the final race. He remained with that team for 2013 and 2014. A series of mixed results left him without a ride in 2015, though he made two wildcard appearances in Mugello and Misano. In 2016 he returned to the World Championship, again on a Kalex, and had some impressive results with Italtrans Racing Team, with whom he remained in 2017. A stunning win at Mugello and a slew of podiums and pole positions saw Pasini prove himself a real star of the show, and he’ll be looking to do the same in 2018 – or even challenge for the crown.