Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will be drafted in at VR46 for the final round of the 2024 MotoGP season at Barcelona, Motorsport.com has learned.
Pirro will be riding one of VR46’s GP23 bikes in the Barcelona GP on 15-17 November, with Fabio di Giannantonio again absent from racing after getting surgery done on his left shoulder last Wednesday.
Although Andrea Iannone impressed VR46 in the Malaysian GP last weekend after returning to MotoGP at the express wish of team owner Valentino Rossi, the one-time grand prix winner will not be racing in Spain next week.
The decision was taken by Ducati in conjunction with VR46 and will be formally communicated to the public next week.
Iannone, who had been out of action since his 2019 campaign with Aprilia after receiving a four-year doping ban, finished 17th less than a minute behind race winner Francesco Bagnaia's factory Ducati.
One of the conditions required for Iannone to compete again in the last race was not to look out of place at Sepang, a goal he more than achieved with his quick adaptation to the GP23.
However, Ducati has decided to lean on the reliable Pirro in Barcelona after taking technical and development aspects into consideration.
Unlike this season where Ducati is fielding four GP24 bikes between its official team and Pramac, the Borgo Panigale marque will be down to just three factory-spec bikes in 2025. These will be raced by Bagnaia, new works team rider Marc Marquez and di Giannatonio at VR46.
The pre-season test in Barcelona, where Pirro will again be on duty at VR46, is therefore crucial for Ducati to get the final details for the 2025 bike right as MotoGP enters a two-year engine freeze phase.
Ducati's current cushion over other manufacturers is so big that no one doubts the development freeze will be an advantage for them in the long-run.
However, the fact that Marquez does not have much experience on the current GP24 – having ridden a one-year-old bike at Gresini in 2024 – has led general manager Gigi Dall'Igna to conclude that Pirro's presence at the test is vital for the marque.
At the moment, it is not certain whether three GP25 bikes will be shipped to Spain as is planned, or if only two will be available due to a production issue.
In any case, Ducati wants to have Pirro, who plays a major role in the development of the bike, at full capacity in Barcelona to help Bagnaia and Marquez fine-tune the bike by providing more data.
Pirro is already testing the GP25 on Wednesday and Thursday this week at Jerez. After these two days of running, the bike will be packed up and sent to Barcelona for the first official 2025 test on 19 November.
