Fabio Di Giannantonio ended his 2024 MotoGP season, with VR46, following the Thailand Grand Prix. The Italian preferring to have shoulder surgery from which he suffered throughout the second half of the season.
In Malaysia, Andrea Iannone took his place in Valentino Rossi's team. He thus completed an impressive weekend, five years after his last appearance in the discipline. Despite everything, a trying meeting, during which he realized some physical limitations.
For the last of the season, which will be held this weekend at the Barcelona circuit, it is not Andrea Iannone who will drive the team's GP23, but Michele Pirro. The Italian will join Marco Bezzecchi at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He will drive with the Italian team both for the race and for the first official test of 2025. The latter will take place on site on Tuesday November 19 at the same site.
It is also this deadline which motivated Ducati's decision, while none of its test riders were able to take part in a Grand Prix this year.
Pirro premieres in 2024
This will, in fact, be Michele Pirro's first MotoGP race since the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix. Accustomed to fulfilling a Wildcard function for Ducati, the new manufacturer concession system has prevented the latter from racing this season.
Ducati being a Tier A factory, given that it collects more than 85% of the points available in the championship, the Bologna factory no longer has the opportunity to field Wildcards this season. Michele Pirro therefore remained on the sidelines throughout this 2024 campaign.
By 2023, he had taken part in five race weekends. Three of them were contested between the San Marino and Japanese GPs. He then replaced Enea Bastianini. The No. 23 was injured in a collision at the start of the Catalan Grand Prix.
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