Due to the new concessions system, Ducati is unable to do wildcards in MotoGP. Michele Pirro, the usual test rider for these occasions, finds himself without this possibility in 2024. However, he will have a wildcard in the World Superbike Championship.
Pirro revealed this to GPOne.com after the Vallelunga round of the Italian Speed Championship (CIV): ‘Because of the new MotoGP regulations, I won’t be able to do wildcards in the championship until June, and since we have once again proven that we are still the reference, it will be difficult for me to race from June onwards. Since I can’t compete in MotoGP at Mugello, I will compete in Misano in the SBK’.
Before the WSBK round scheduled for mid-June, Pirro is already preparing and getting to know the Ducati Panigale V4 R: ‘It’s a different bike, with different tires, but I have already done a test in Barcelona and will do another one next week. I hope to have fun and be part of the action’, he said.
The last time the Italian competed in WSBK, also as a wildcard, was in 2019. He raced at Misano then as well, retiring from the first race before finishing eighth in both the Superpole race and the second race. Before that, he had made sporadic appearances in the championship in 2013 and 2015, with two sixth-place finishes being his best results.