Looking ahead to Tuesday’s test in Barcelona: Michele Pirro will take over the VR46 Ducati for the season finale – Andrea Iannone will not be competing in the second race
Fabio Di Giannantonio has ended the 2024 MotoGP season after the Thai Grand Prix. Last Saturday, the Italian underwent a scheduled operation on his left shoulder. His goal is to be fit in time for the winter test in Sepang, Malaysia, which takes place from February 5 to 7.
At the express request of Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone was allowed to step in for the VR46 Ducati team at Sepang last weekend. It was the Italian’s return to the premier class after a five-year break.
Iannone did not crash all weekend. In the sprint, he was in a group at the back of the field and he also finished the Grand Prix ahead of Lorenzo Savadori, who stood in for the injured Miguel Oliveira at Trackhouse.
After the race, Iannone said that he had achieved his goals. When asked if he would also drive for VR46 in Barcelona, he replied: “I don’t know. Nobody has asked me yet.”
Iannone will not be competing in the season finale in Barcelona. Michele Pirro has been given preference.
The Ducati test driver is on the track this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Pirro is testing the Desmosedici GP25 for the coming year in Jerez. He then makes his way to Barcelona.
The fact that Pirro will be driving there instead of Iannone is primarily due to the fact that Ducati is concentrating on the development program. The decision has been made in consultation with the VR46 management.
At VR46, Pirro will ride the old GP23 model, but he will be able to pick up speed and will be racing at the same time as the regular drivers. On Tuesday (November 19), after the season finale, an official test day will take place in Barcelona.
It is not yet clear whether two GP25s or three will be ready for this test day. One each will go to Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. Since Marquez has never driven the GP24 and is therefore skipping developments, Pirro is to use his experience to assist.
Pirro has played a key role in testing the development of the new bike over the past few months. This Tuesday test will also be extremely important for Ducati for another reason. The engine specification will be frozen for the next two years.
So it will be crucial to get important feedback and data from Bagnaia and Márquez. Pirro is supposed to help with that. Due to the new concession rules, Ducati was not allowed to register any wildcards this year. So Barcelona will be Pirro’s first race this year.
