Pramac Team Manager Gino Borsoi describes his work and which guiding principle was his main focus on the way to winning the 2023 MotoGP team classification
From Jorge Martinez’s Aspar team, which competes in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes of the World Motorcycle Championship, Team Manager Gino Borsoi made the switch to Pramac-Ducati in the MotoGP class in the winter of 2022/23. In the first year with Borsoi on board, Pramac-Ducati immediately became world champion in the MotoGP team classification. Coincidence?
Listening to Borsoi’s comments, it becomes clear that, in addition to the riders (Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco) and the equipment (Ducati Desmosedici GP23 as in the factory team), the atmosphere within the team also contributed to the Pramac racing team’s outstanding performance in 2023.
What are the specific areas of responsibility that Borsoi deals with as team manager? “Well, for example, I don’t have to worry too much about how we find the right set-up for the bikes on site. That’s something that Ducati and the crew chiefs decide in advance at home,” says Borsoi in the official MotoGP podcast.
The set-ups will then be adjusted on site at the race track on Friday, after the first practice sessions have taken place. This is when all the Ducati teams exchange data with each other. This gives them the opportunity to make up any lost ground more quickly because a certain set-up may not have been perfect.
The Ducati riders have emphasized more than once during the 2023 MotoGP season that they appreciate the advantage of the large amount of data. This is especially true for the Pramac team, “because we use exactly the same specification of bike as the factory team uses,” says Borsoi.
Two of the eight Ducati riders from 2023 – Luca Marini and Johann Zarco – will no longer be part of the Ducati program in the upcoming 2024 MotoGP season because they have switched to Honda and LCR-Honda respectively. In return, Marc Marquez (with Gresini) and Franco Morbidelli (with Pramac) are new members. Another rider has changed teams within the Ducati family: Fabio Di Giannantonio from Gresini to VR46.
Borsoi confirms the advantage of the large amount of data within the Ducati family. “This allows us to react much faster than Yamaha or Honda, for example. We have a large amount of data. And on Friday evening we are often not far away from what we really need for the race on Sunday,” said the Pramac team manager.
“We are all pulling together, and we are all part of Ducati’s success,” said Borsoi, speaking not only for the Pramac team, but also for the Gresini team, the VR46 team and the Ducati factory team.
Borsoi’s role as team manager at Pramac is less technical and more human. “On a race weekend, the people in the team know exactly what they have to do. But it’s not just about working on the bikes. It’s about the whole atmosphere and how well the team works together. That’s the most important thing, also in terms of results,” he says.
Because the guiding principle that Borsoi always keeps in mind in his work as team manager is: “As long as you don’t have a pleasant atmosphere in the pits, you don’t need to think about good results on the track.”
The fact that this guiding principle – not least in combination with the riders, the equipment and the close communication between the Ducati teams – has worked perfectly for Pramac this season is shown by the final MotoGP team standings for 2023.
Before Borsoi joined last winter, the Pramac team had not even made it into the top three of the team standings in the MotoGP class in two decades. Before becoming a Ducati team (2004), Pramac was a satellite team of Yamaha and Honda