Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP / Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2
Team

Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP / Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2

section:team
Pramac Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the banner Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP and in the Moto2 World Championship as Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Moto2. The team is based in Casole d'Elsa, Tuscany, Italy, and is owned by Italian power generator manufacturer Pramac. In 2023, Pramac Racing became the first independent team to win the MotoGP teams' championship.

The team's lineage traces to the d'Antin MotoGP team, founded in 1999 by Spanish former motorcycle racer Luis d'Antin, based in Madrid. In 1999, the squad raced in the 250cc Spanish and World Championships with Yamaha bikes and Spanish riders Fonsi Nieto and David García. That same year, the team entered the 500cc class with Japanese rider Norifumi Abe on a Yamaha YZR500. Abe won the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

José Luis Cardoso joined as second rider in 2001. In 2002, when the 500cc class became MotoGP, the team continued with the YZR500, adding Pere Riba alongside Abe — Alex Crivillé had been the original plan but retired before the season, and Cardoso acted as Riba's injury substitute. The 2-stroke was uncompetitive against the new 990cc 4-strokes, though Abe was given the new Ducati rival Yamaha YZR-M1 for the final two races. The YZR-M1 was used full-time in 2003, with Shinya Nakano as sole rider.

For 2004, d'Antin switched to Ducati, using the previous season's Desmosedici GP3 and signing 2003 Superbike World Champion Neil Hodgson and runner-up Rubén Xaus. A planned Visa sponsorship deal fell through, causing financial difficulties and preventing a proper test programme. Xaus's third place in Qatar was the team's best result that season.

Separately, Pramac Racing — owned by the Italian power generator manufacturer — first entered MotoGP in 2002, taking over the activities of Hardwick Racing (formerly the Shell Advance Honda Team), relocating to Italy and running a Honda NSR500 with Tetsuya Harada. A 500cc holdout in the inaugural 990cc season, Harada scored one top-five finish and retired at the end of the year.

In September 2002, Pramac signed a three-year deal with Max Biaggi and Honda Racing Corporation to enter a Honda RC211V for 2003. Two months later, Pramac and Pons Racing agreed that Biaggi would compete for Pons while remaining under Pramac contract; the combined entry appeared in official entry lists as Camel Pramac Pons. That same season, Pramac also entered a separate Pramac Honda entry for Makoto Tamada, the only Honda team running Bridgestone tyres. Tamada achieved a podium in Brazil; Biaggi scored two wins and finished third in the championship.

The Pramac-Pons relationship continued in 2004, with Tamada joining Sito Pons' structure, replacing Tohru Ukawa. Tamada remained on Bridgestone while Biaggi used Michelin. Tamada finished the season with two wins and sixth in the championship; Biaggi won once and finished third overall. At the season's end, Pramac ended its Pons relationship. Biaggi terminated his Pramac contract and joined the Repsol Honda works team. Team manager Luca Montiron departed to found JiR, with Tamada as a rider.

In 2005, d'Antin MotoGP and Pramac Racing merged to form Pramac d'Antin. The team used the previous season's Desmosedici GP4 with Italian Roberto Rolfo as rider, on Dunlop tyres, and generally finished near the back of the grid.

For 2006, the team received the Desmosedici GP6 — the same model as the factory team — with Alex Hofmann and José Luis Cardoso as riders. The Dunlop tyres remained uncompetitive.

Prior to 2007, Pramac and d'Antin agreed that the d'Antin team would become an integral part of the Pramac Group. The team switched to the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7 and Bridgestone tyres. Alex Barros joined alongside Hofmann. Barros achieved a podium at the Italian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of works rider Casey Stoner. Hofmann injured his hand at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and was replaced by Chaz Davies for that round and Iván Silva at Brno. Hofmann returned at Misano but was dismissed after the Portuguese Grand Prix following a motivational withdrawal while in points contention. Davies completed the season.

In 2008, the team used the Ducati Desmosedici GP8 and Bridgestone tyres with Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elías as riders. Sponsorship from Alice, Telecom Italia's DSL service, gave the team the name "Alice Team." Luis d'Antin resigned at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

For 2009, the team reverted to the Pramac Racing name, using the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 and Bridgestone tyres with Mika Kallio and Niccolò Canepa. On August 19, 2009, Aleix Espargaró was announced as a replacement for Kallio at Indianapolis and Misano, with Michel Fabrizio having covered the Brno round; Kallio had been filling in at the Ducati factory team for Casey Stoner.

Kallio and Espargaró raced together in 2010. For 2011, Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet competed for the team, achieving a sixth place as their best race result. Damian Cudlin and Sylvain Guintoli entered some rounds as replacements for the injured Capirossi.

In 2012, Pramac fielded a single bike for Héctor Barberá. For 2013, the team received factory-supported Ducati status and ran two factory-specification Desmosedicis for works riders Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies. Spies was injured and missed all but the first two races, with Michele Pirro and later Yonny Hernández substituting. Hernández secured a full-time seat for 2014 alongside Iannone. Iannone rode the factory-supported GP14 while Hernández used the year-old GP13.

For 2015, Iannone was promoted to the factory Ducati team, replacing Cal Crutchlow, and Danilo Petrucci joined Pramac. Both Petrucci and Hernández rode the Ducati Desmosedici GP14. In 2016, Scott Redding joined, with Petrucci retaining his seat; both rode the GP15. In 2017, Petrucci received a factory-specification GP17 based on his superior 2016 championship standing, while Redding rode the year-old machine.

In 2018, Jack Miller replaced Redding, who moved to Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Petrucci rode the GP18; Miller the GP17. For 2019, Petrucci was promoted to the factory Ducati team (replacing Jorge Lorenzo) and Francesco Bagnaia — the 2018 Moto2 World Champion — joined Pramac. Miller moved to the GP19; Bagnaia used the year-old GP18.

For 2020, Pramac fielded factory-specification Ducati Desmosedici GP20 bikes for both Miller and Bagnaia, the first time since 2013 that both riders received the same machine. For 2021, Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín joined the team — Zarco from Esponsorama Racing, Martín from Moto2 — both on the GP21. The team scored its first ever premier class victory at the Styrian GP, taken by Martín.

In 2023, Pramac Racing won the MotoGP teams' championship, becoming the first independent team to take that title. Pramac also won the Best Independent Team award four consecutive times.

In 2024, Martín finished third in the Solidarity Grand Prix aboard a Desmosedici GP24, a result that crowned him the 2024 World Champion. He became the first champion from an independent team in the MotoGP era since Valentino Rossi with Nastro Azzurro Honda in 2001. Martín subsequently left Pramac for Aprilia. Franco Morbidelli joined VR46 Racing Team after the season.

For 2025, Pramac Racing moved to Yamaha, with Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira riding factory-specification Yamaha bikes under the Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP banner. On June 10, 2025, Yamaha announced that Toprak Razgatlıoğlu would join Pramac Racing in 2026, moving from the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in the Superbike World Championship, with Miller retaining his seat.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.

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