Ducati check rider Michele Pirro will likely be drafted in at VR46 for the ultimate spherical of the 2024 MotoGP season at Barcelona, Motorsport.com has realized.
Pirro will likely be driving one among VR46’s GP23 bikes within the Barcelona GP on 15-17 November, with Fabio di Giannantonio once more absent from racing after getting surgical procedure finished on his left shoulder final Wednesday.
Though Andrea Iannone impressed VR46 within the Malaysian GP final weekend after returning to MotoGP on the categorical want of staff proprietor Valentino Rossi, the one-time grand prix winner won’t be racing in Spain subsequent week.
The choice was taken by Ducati along side VR46 and will likely be formally communicated to the general public subsequent week.
Iannone, who had been out of motion since his 2019 marketing campaign with Aprilia after receiving a four-year doping ban, completed seventeenth lower than a minute behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia‘s manufacturing facility Ducati.
One of many situations required for Iannone to compete once more within the final race was to not look misplaced at Sepang, a objective he greater than achieved together with his fast adaptation to the GP23.
Andrea Iannone, VR46 Racing Staff
Photograph by: Asif Zubairi
Nevertheless, Ducati has determined to lean on the dependable Pirro in Barcelona after taking technical and growth elements into consideration.
In contrast to this season the place Ducati is fielding 4 GP24 bikes between its official staff and Pramac, the Borgo Panigale marque will likely be down to simply three factory-spec bikes in 2025. These will likely be raced by Bagnaia, new works staff rider Marc Marquez and di Giannatonio at VR46.
The pre-season check in Barcelona, the place Pirro will once more be on obligation at VR46, is due to this fact essential for Ducati to get the ultimate particulars for the 2025 bike proper as MotoGP enters a two-year engine freeze section.
Ducati’s present cushion over different producers is so massive that nobody doubts the event freeze will likely be a bonus for them within the long-run.
Nevertheless, the truth that Marquez doesn’t have a lot expertise on the present GP24 – having ridden a one-year-old bike at Gresini in 2024 – has led common supervisor Gigi Dall’Igna to conclude that Pirro’s presence on the check is significant for the marque.
For the time being, it’s not sure whether or not three GP25 bikes will likely be shipped to Spain as is deliberate, or if solely two will likely be accessible resulting from a manufacturing situation.
In any case, Ducati desires to have Pirro, who performs a serious function within the growth of the bike, at full capability in Barcelona to assist Bagnaia and Marquez fine-tune the bike by offering extra knowledge.
Pirro is already testing the GP25 on Wednesday and Thursday this week at Jerez. After these two days of operating, the bike will likely be packed up and despatched to Barcelona for the primary official 2025 check on 19 November.
