Fausto Gresini hospitalised after positive COVID-19 diagnosis

Fausto Gresini, eponymous chief of the Gresini Racing MotoGP team, is in hospital after contracting COVID-19, a statement from the Italian outfit has confirmed.

The team owner tested positive for the virus shortly before Christmas when he began showing symptoms before being hospitalised on 27 December at the Sant Maria della Scaletta in Imola.

A spokesperson from Gresini Racing says he has since been transported to the Maggiore Carlo Pizzardi hospital in Bologna, where he is being treated in a specialist ward. His condition for now remains unknown.

"Following the COVID-19 positivity discovered shortly before the Christmas break, Fausto Gresini - after an initial isolation period at home - was hospitalised on 27 December at the Santa Maria della Scaletta hospital in Imola.

"The Gresini Racing team principal was transported today to the Maggiore Carlo Alberto Pizzardi hospital in Bologna, in a more specialised ward for COVID-19 care.

"Fausto's conditions are constantly monitored. Further updates will follow.”

One of MotoGP’s stalwart independent teams, Fausto Gresini has helmed the team that bears his name ever since it stepped into the premier class in 1997 (500GP), where it established a long-term relationship with Honda before being chosen to collaborate with Aprilia on its factory MotoGP project from 2015.

Gresini Racing has since confirmed it will split from Aprilia in-house works’ effort to revert back to an independent model, potentially as the Italian manufacturer’s official satellite team.

The deadly coronavirus has - since the first reported cases in late 2019 - gone on to claim 1.79M lives globally amid 82.1M confirmed cases.  Italy was one of the worst affected countries during the earlier stages of the virus' outbreak