Gresini Racing’s Moto2 division will not run the branding of Chinese title sponsor QJ Motor for the remainder of the 2024 season following the row over Manuel Gonzalez wearing a traditional Japanese hachimaki headband on the grid ahead of his victory at Motegi - and will honour the remaining four races of Gonzalez’s contract.
Gonzalez, who took his maiden win in the intermediate class at the Japanese Grand Prix venue, wore the headband on the grid before the start of last weekend's race.
The hachimaki is a traditional Japanese item thought to date back to the samurai era. It was adopted by the Japanese military during World War Two, most notably by kamikaze pilots while flying suicide missions.
Japan's invasion of China in 1937 is recognised by historians as one of the global conflict's most brutal theatres of war.
As a result, the hachimaki, while widely associated with martial arts in the West and still worn by many Japanese athletes, has a very different context in China.
Gresini had remained silent on the calls from QJ Motor to sack Gonzalez in the interim but, ahead of this weekend’s next round of the championship, it says it will remove the Chinese motorcycle manufacturer’s name from its bike but it is trying to mend the relationship.
“Motegi also staged an incident that involved Manuel Gonzalez who wore a Japanese headband during the starting grid,” read the team’s press release.
“Such an act - although unintentional - eventually hurt the sensibility of the Chinese people.
“QJ Motor and Gresini Racing are now running a positive discussion and it is expected that everything will be solved very soon.
“As a form of respect towards China, Gresini Racing Moto2 Team will race unbranded the remaining four rounds of the current season.”
Gresini also carried an apology from Gonzalez, who was already set to leave the team following the conclusion of the 2024 season in four races’ time.
He is currently sixth in the championship but only 15 points behind second place, while Ai Ogura has a 65-point lead.
“I'd like to give my sincere apologies to everyone who felt offended by my grid pictures in Japan,” said Gonzalez.
“It was never meant to be a political message, but only a set of pictures related to the city hosting the race.
“This was never intended as a lack of respect or an offensive gesture to the Chinese people, it was an unwitting and involuntary gesture that I regret.
“I'd like to apologise once again, hoping to receive your forgiveness and support. Thank you.”
