Michele Pirro

Michele Pio Pirro (born 5 July 1986) is a motorcycle road racer from Italy, He was 2007 and 2008 the Italian CIV National Champion in the Superstock class and a test rider for Ducati factory racing in MotoGP and rides occasionally as a wildcard.

Pirro won the 2004 European 125 Championship and won the CIV Superbike Championship ten times: in 2007 and 2008 in the Superstock 1000 class, in 2009 in the Supersport 600 class and in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024 in the Superbike class.

Pirro has also competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing and the Supersport World Championship.

Career 125cc World Championship (2003–2006) Pirro began his Grand Prix career as a wild card in the 2003 Italian Grand Prix in the 125cc class, on an Aprilia motorcycle. After winning the European 125cc Championship in 2004, in 2005 he participated as a full-time rider in the same class with Malaguti, scoring three points in the Chinese Grand Prix and finishing the season in 33rd place. In 2006, he continued to race in the 125 class on an Aprilia – and later a Honda – without scoring points.

National racing (2007–2008) In 2007 and 2008, Pirro won the Italian National Championship (CIV) in the Superstock class on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

Supersport World Championship (2009–2010) In 2009, Pirro participated in the Supersport World Championship on a Yamaha, ending in 11th place. In the same year, he won the Italian Supersport Championship. The following year, he switched to Honda and finished in fifth place, with a victory in the Italian round at Imola. He also made a one-off appearance in the Moto2 World Championship at the Aragon Grand Prix, finishing 14th.

Moto2 and MotoGP World Championship (2011–2012) Pirro returned to Grand Prix racing in 2011 in Moto2 with Team Gresini. He obtained a victory, in the season finale at Valencia, just two weeks after Gresini's MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli was killed in a crash at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Pirro's MotoGP career began in 2012 with Gresini on a FTR motorcycle, with a best placement of fifth at the Valencian Grand Prix, ending the season in 15th place with 43 points.

Ducati Test Rider (2013–present) Since 2013, Pirro has been the official test rider of team Ducati. He has participated in races every year, either as a wildcard entry or as a substitute for injured riders, obtaining his overall best MotoGP result of fourth at the 2018 Valencian season finale.

During the 2013 season, Pirro participated in ten total races (three as a wildcard and seven as a substitute for the injured Ben Spies), with a best result of seventh at the Italian Grand Prix, ending the season in thirteenth place with 56 points. In 2014, Pirro replaced the injured Cal Crutchlow in the Argentine Grand Prix and participated as a wild-card in five races.

In 2015 and 2016, Pirro continued to be the official Ducati test rider, while also participating in the Italian Superbike Championship (CIV), which he won in 2015. In 2015, he participated as a wild card in the Italian and San Marino MotoGP rounds. He also raced in the Italian round of the Superbike World Championship in Misano as a wild card, and in the Spanish GP as a substitute for the injured Davide Giugliano. In 2016, he substituted the injured Danilo Petrucci for the Pramac Ducati team in Argentina, Texas and Jerez MotoGP races, he participated as a wild card for the Ducati factory team at the Italian GP at Mugello, he replaced the injured Loris Baz at the Catalan GP and the Dutch TT on an Avintia Ducati and he appeared again with the factory team at the Austrian GP as a wild-card entry and at San Marino and Aragon as replacement for the injured Andrea Iannone.

Pirro continued to participate in MotoGP as Ducati's wild card rider in 2017 and 2018. During a practice session for the 2018 Italian Grand Prix he suffered a severe crash at the end of the start/finish straight and was hospitalised with a concussion. He made a further three wildcard entries in Italy, San Marino, and Valencia in 2019. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, he won again the CIV Superbike Championship. In 2020, Pirro substituted the recovering Francesco Bagnaia at Pramac for the two races in Austria (the Austrian Grand Prix and Styrian Grand Prix).

Pirro continued to race in selected rounds of the World Championship in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, either as a wildcard (sometimes entered under the name Aruba.it Racing, Ducati's factory team name from the World Superbike Championship) or as a temporary replacement for an injured factory or satellite Ducati rider.

Pirro replaced reigning World Riders' Champion Marc Márquez at the Australian Grand Prix & Malaysian Grand Prix, after the latter fractured his collarbone in a collision with factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi in Mandalika before himself being replaced by Ducati World Superbike rider Nicolò Bulega for the final two rounds of the 2025 season.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp 125cc 2003–2006 2003 Italy 29 0 0 0 0 3 0 Moto2 2010–2011 2010 Aragon 2011 Great Britain 2011 Valencia 18 1 2 1 0 86 0 MotoGP 2012–present 2012 Qatar 73 0 0 0 0 234 0 Total 2003–2006, 2010–present 120 1 2 1 0 323 0

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2007 Yamaha DON30 VAL2 NED1 MNZRet SIL5 SMR13 BRN5 BRA9 LAURet ITA8 MAGDNS 7th 85 2008 Yamaha VAL6 NED2 MNZRet NŰR4 SMR2 BRN6 BRA6 DON19 MAG10 ALG4 5th 102

Supersport World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts Yamaha AUS QAT SPA NED ITA RSA USA SMR GBR CZE GER ITA FRA POR 11th 70 Honda AUS POR SPA NED ITA RSA USA SMR CZE GBR GER ITA FRA 5th 99

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Ducati AUS AUS SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA GBR GBR POR POR ITA ITA RUS RUS GBR GBR GER GER TUR TUR USA USA FRA FRA SPA SPA 26th 10 Ducati AUS AUS THA THA SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA GBR GBR POR POR ITA ITA USA USA MAL MAL SPA SPA FRA FRA QAT QAT 21st 35 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 Ducati AUS AUS AUS THA THA THA SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR USA USA USA POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ARG ARG ARG QAT QAT QAT 24th 10 Ducati AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED EMI EMI EMI GBR GBR GBR CZE CZE CZE POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA EST EST EST SPA SPA SPA 25th 3