The former Spanish rider will be tasked with enabling the team to be competitive in both the Moto2 World Championship and the new FIM Enel MotoE World Cup.
Le Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS finished the 2018 season with the Moto2 and MotoGP Rookie of the Year titles. For 2019, the Spanish-Belgian team has been restructured and re-energized in order to once again challenge for the world title in the intermediate Grand Prix class, a title the team already won in 2014 with Tito Rabat and in 2017 with Franco Morbidelli, as well as getting the best out of the brand new MotoE category.
The owner of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, Marc van der Straten, is determined that his team remains a reference in the MotoGP paddock and that it is once again a candidate for victory in the two competitions in which it participates this year. For this, various changes were made to its structure.
Therefore, Joan Olivé will be responsible for ensuring his success and sporting excellence as the new Team Manager. Beyond his racing career, Olivé has a great knowledge of the workings of the paddock having also been a test driver, driver advisor and coordinator since the end of his career in 2011.
Obtaining a third Moto2 World Champion title this year will be the main objective of Team Estrella Galicia 00. To achieve this, Alex Marquez et Xavi Virgo will have two machines Kalex, powered by the new engine Triumph 765. The arrival of number 97 is not the only change in the Moto2 team. Certain roles have in fact been redistributed on the technical side.
Thus Naoya Kaneko, former chief mechanic of Álex Márquez, becomes technical director, while David Garcia, telemetry engineer for Dani Pedrosa in the Repsol Honda team, replaces the Japanese technician with number 73. For his part, Virginie will benefit from the experience of Gilles Bigot, the respected French team boss, who remains with the team after leading the MotoGP project with Tom Lüthi last season.
The Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing team will also participate in the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup in 2019 with Mike Di Meglio. The Frenchman, 125cc World Champion in 2008, former MotoGP rider and recent winner of the Bol d'Or, joins Team Estrella 0,0 Marc VDS Racing with the clear objective of making history in the first motorcycle season electrical.
Marc van der Straten:
“We can be proud to have concluded the 2018 season with the titles of Rookie of the Year in MotoGP with Franco Morbidelli and in Moto2 with Joan Mir. This year we will focus on Moto2 and MotoE. For this new chapter in the history of Marc VDS Racing, we have decided to appoint Joan Olivé as Team Manager. As a former driver, Joan knows the demands of competing at this level and I am sure that with him on board, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS will be even stronger in 2019.”
Joan Olivier:
“I am very happy and very excited to now be part of the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS family. I look forward to bringing the experience I have gained over the last few seasons into this project to help the team achieve further success. I would like to thank Marc van der Straten for the trust he has shown in me by entrusting me with the direction of this project. We will all together form a very technically solid team with three exceptional riders who will, I am sure, fight for the world titles in Moto2 and MotoE. »
