Toni Elías begins a fresh chapter in his career this season with a change to the Moto2 category, after five years in the premier class. Elías ended with a career best of seventh place last season, however was not able to keep his spot in the premier session, he will now race in the 600cc 4-stroke Championship with the Gresini team.

Elías is excited about his new challenge, stating “I am excited at this year’s project and I feel very strong.”

Elías has spent a short time in the Catalán Pyrenees for his winter training program, and the physical preparations in the snow have aided with his pre-season.

The fresh Moriwaki MD600 prototype has been dispatched to the Gresini HQ in earlier in January, however final assembly is still in progress. Elías will appear at the Montmelo test in mid-February, though he may have to wait for the scheduled Valencia test in early March to initially race the MD600.

Elías will be alongside Russian racer Vladimir Ivanov. Elías says of his colleague, “We will know more after the first test. I hope my experience can help him, and if needed that it can help him adapt to the World Championship as quickly as possible, as with the team.”