Five years later Michele tries again. In fact, the Ducati test rider will be at the start of the Misano Superbike round as a wildcard. The last time was with Barni’s Panigale V4, but on this occasion we will see him engaged with the test team’s Rossa.
On the eve of the Riviera stage, Michele told us about his expectations for the weekend.
“It is certainly nice to return to the World SBK – he began – I am five years older than in 2019, but I am aware that Ducati is very competitive, considering that it won two titles in a row with Bautista. I will compete this weekend without expectations and ambitions, but just to have fun, because at 38 a race no longer changes your career as it might have 10 years ago. I am therefore curious to see what the values will be on the field and I will try to give my best to have a good weekend.”
Michele, what point have we reached with the development of the Panigale?
“In these 13 years of Ducati I have understood that there are cycles and regulations. This project has grown from year to year, considering that here you are more limited than the competition, also there are limitations. It is clear that the competition is not standing idly by and as a result the bar is raised. In Barcelona, just to give an example, I was impressed by the effort of BMW, which seems to be a sort of KTM team in MotoGP.”
What can Pirro do to help Aruba and the other teams?
“I’m obviously trying to understand how to improve, but then there are limits due to the regulations and the standard bike. At a regulatory level I think there will be an adjustment with what is happening in MotoGP with the arrival of the 850. There will therefore be a downgrade to be made given that the current Superbikes are very close to MotoGP and some parameters such as electronics are even more precise than to a prototype. We will then see how to move.”
Were you more surprised by Iannone’s or Bulega’s performances?
“I was one of those few who believed in Iannone, but he certainly has a great talent. I let Andrea ride the first Ducati V4 last year and I wasn’t surprised by his performance, in fact I had bet on the podium with him in Australia. Bulega impressed me a lot at the tests at the end of 2023 and I was impressed by how he rode the Panigale. Winning in the first race is certainly not a given”
Iannone is at the center of the SBK market. What advice would you like to give him?
“I advise him to have fun and make the choice that makes him more peaceful. He just has to do something that allows him to feel good.”
And Marquez?
“Marc is very attentive, he follows what we do and it will be a good challenge in 2025 given that we have two very champions in the team. More than anything, my challenge is to see the new era 850, in fact I’m curious to try the Ducati 850 of the future.”
