Michele Pirro

Michele Pirro

Pirro at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix
Personal information
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1986-07-05) 5 July 1986 (age 37) San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
Sport
Club	Fiamme Oro [1]
Current team	Ducati Lenovo (Test Rider)
Bike number	51
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2012–2023 Manufacturers FTR (2012) Ducati (2013- ) Championships 0 2023 championship position 27th (5 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 68 0 0 0 0 234 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2010–2011 Manufacturers Moriwaki Championships 0 2011 championship position 9th (84 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 18 1 2 1 0 86 125cc World Championship Active years 2003–2006 Manufacturers Honda, Aprilia, Malaguti Championships 0 2006 championship position NC (0 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 29 0 0 0 0 3 Superbike World Championship Active years 2013, 2015, 2019 Manufacturers Ducati Championships 0 2019 championship position 24th (10 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 9 0 0 0 0 55 Supersport World Championship Active years 2009–2010 Manufacturers Yamaha, Honda Championships 0 2010 championship position 5th (99 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 26 1 2 2 1 169

Pirro at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Michele Pio Pirro (born 5 July 1986) ^[2] 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. ^{[3] [4]}

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

Career

125cc World Championship (2003–2006)

He 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, ^[5] in 2005 he participated as a full-time rider in the same class with Malaguti, scoring 3 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 he won the Italian National Championship (CIV) in the Superstock class on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

Supersport World Championship (2009–2010)

In 2009 he participated in the Supersport World Championship on a Yamaha, ending in 11th place. In the same year he won the Italian Supersport Championship. ^[6] The following year he switched to Honda and finished in 5th 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 & 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.

His 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 4th at the 2018 Valencian season finale.

During the 2013 season he participated in ten total races (3 as a wildcard and 7 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 ^[7] and participated as a wild-card in five races.

In 2015 and 2016 he 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.

He 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. ^[8] 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. ^[9] In 2020, Pirro substituted the recovering Francesco Bagnaia at Pramac for the Austrian round. ^[10]

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2003	125cc	Aprilia	RCGM	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2004	125cc	Aprilia	RCGM Team F.M.I.	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
			Rauch Bravo	1	0	0	0	0	0
2005	125cc	Malaguti	Malaguti Reparto Corse	14	0	0	0	0	3	33rd
2006	125cc	Aprilia	WTR Blauer USA	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Honda	Humangest Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	0
2010	Moto2	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2	1	0	0	0	0	2	38th
2011	Moto2	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2	17	1	2	1	0	84	9th
2012	MotoGP	FTR	San Carlo Honda Gresini	18	0	0	0	0	43	15th
2013	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	3	0	0	0	0	20	13th
			Ignite Pramac Racing	7	0	0	0	0	36
2014	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	6	0	0	0	0	18	19th
2015	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	3	0	0	0	0	12	21st
2016	MotoGP	Ducati	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	3	0	0	0	0	12	19th
			Ducati Team	4	0	0	0	0	23
			Avintia Racing	2	0	0	0	0	1
2017	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	3	0	0	0	0	25	23rd
2018	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	3	0	0	0	0	14	22nd
2019	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Team	3	0	0	0	0	9	22nd
2020	MotoGP	Ducati	Pramac Racing	2	0	0	0	0	4	23rd
2021	MotoGP	Ducati	Pramac Racing	1	0	0	0	0	3	23rd
			Ducati Lenovo Team	2	0	0	0	0	9
2022	MotoGP	Ducati	Aruba.it Racing	3	0	0	0	0	0	27th
2023	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati Lenovo Team	3	0	0	0	0	5*	27th*
			Aruba.it Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0*
Total				115	1	2	1	0	323

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			68	0	0	0	0	234	0
Total	2012–present				115	1	2	1	0	323	0

Races by year

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

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Pts
2003	125cc	Aprilia	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA 29	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	BRA	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL					NC	0
2004	125cc	Aprilia	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA 19	CAT	NED	BRA	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL 16					NC	0
2005	125cc	Malaguti	SPA Ret	POR 19	CHN 13	FRA Ret	ITA 19	CAT Ret	NED Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CZE Ret	JPN Ret	MAL Ret	QAT Ret	AUS Ret	TUR	VAL					33rd	3
2006	125cc	Aprilia	SPA	QAT 18	TUR Ret	CHN 25	FRA 23	ITA Ret	CAT 20	NED Ret	GBR Ret	GER 23	CZE 19										NC	0
		Honda												MAL 24	AUS Ret	JPN	POR	VAL
2010	Moto2	Moriwaki	QAT	SPA	FRA	ITA	GBR	NED	CAT	GER	CZE	INP	RSM	ARA 14	JPN	MAL	AUS	POR	VAL				38th	2
2011	Moto2	Moriwaki	QAT 8	SPA 9	POR 22	FRA 14	CAT 12	GBR 3	NED 17	ITA Ret	GER 10	CZE 18	INP 20	RSM 14	ARA Ret	JPN 13	AUS 14	MAL 7	VAL 1				9th	84
2012	MotoGP	FTR	QAT NC	SPA Ret	POR 14	FRA 14	CAT 14	GBR 13	NED 9	GER Ret	ITA DSQ	USA Ret	INP Ret	CZE 14	RSM 10	ARA 15	JPN 15	MAL 12	AUS 14	VAL 5			15th	43
2013	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	AME	SPA 11	FRA 8	ITA 7	CAT 10	NED 14	GER 10	USA	INP	CZE 12	GBR 12	RSM 10	ARA	MAL	AUS	JPN	VAL 10			13th	56
2014	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	AME	ARG 17	SPA Ret	FRA	ITA 11	CAT 14	NED	GER	INP	CZE 12	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 9			19th	18
2015	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA 8	CAT	NED	GER	INP	CZE	GBR	RSM Ret	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 12			21st	12
2016	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	ARG 12	AME 8	SPA 16	FRA	ITA 10	CAT 15	NED Ret	GER	AUT 12	CZE	GBR	RSM 7	ARA 12	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL			19th	36
2017	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA 9	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM 5	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 9			23rd	25
2018	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA DNS	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM 15	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL Ret	VAL 4		22nd	14
2019	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA 7	CAT	NED	GER	CZE	AUT	GBR	RSM Ret	ARA	THA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL Ret		22nd	9
2020	MotoGP	Ducati	SPA	ANC	CZE	AUT 12	STY 20	RSM	EMI	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	POR							23rd	4
2021	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	DOH	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA 13	CAT	GER	NED	STY	AUT	GBR	ARA	RSM 11	AME	EMI 12	ALR	VAL			23rd	12
2022	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT	INA	ARG	AME	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA 18	CAT 16	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	RSM Ret	ARA	JPN	THA	AUS	MAL	VAL	27th	0
2023	MotoGP	Ducati	POR	ARG	AME 11	SPA	FRA	ITA 16	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	CAT	RSM Ret	IND 16	JPN 16	INA	AUS	THA	MAL	QAT	VAL	27th	5

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
2009	Yamaha	AUS 12	QAT 11	SPA 7	NED 10	ITA 7	RSA 9	USA 8	SMR Ret	GBR 15	CZE Ret	GER Ret	ITA 11	FRA 10	POR 6	11th	70
2010	Honda	AUS Ret	POR 3	SPA 11	NED Ret	ITA 4	RSA 4	USA 5	SMR Ret	CZE Ret	GBR	GER 8	ITA 1	FRA 8		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
2013	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 6	FRA Ret	SPA	SPA	26th	10
2015	Ducati	AUS	AUS	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	POR	POR	ITA 8	ITA 8	USA	USA	MAL	MAL	SPA 6	SPA 7	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
2019	Ducati	AUS	AUS	AUS	THA	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	ITA	SPA	SPA	SPA	ITA Ret	ITA 8	ITA 8	GBR	GBR	GBR	USA	USA	USA	POR	POR	POR	FRA	FRA	FRA	ARG	ARG	ARG	QAT	QAT	QAT	24th	10

References

1. "Fiamme Oro discipline sportive - Motociclismo" (in Italian). poliziadistato.it. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
2. "Bollettino ufficiale del personale – Supplemento straordinario n. 1/18 bis" (PDF). img.poliziadistato.it (in Italian). Ministero dell'Interno. 12 July 2011. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
3. Michele Pirro wild card with Pramac at Mugello ruetir.com, 25 May, 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021
4. Michele Pirro will make a wildcard participation at Misano motorcyclesports.net. Retrieved 30 September 2021
5. "Pirro confirmed by Malaguti". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 26 November 2004. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
6. "Pirro è campione 2009". motosprint.corrieredellosport.it (in Italian). Motosprint. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
7. "Pirro to substitute for Crutchlow in Argentina". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
8. "Ducati's Pirro hospitalised after horror practice crash". motorsport.com. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
9. "SBK, ELF CIV: podio e titolo italiano per Michele Pirro". gpone.com (in Italian). GPone. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
10. Gugliemetti, Riccardo (12 Aug 2020). "MotoGP, Michele Pirro reckons Dovizioso and Ducati are not out of the title race yet". GPOne.com. Retrieved 13 Aug 2020.

External links

• Michele Pirro at MotoGP.com
• Michele Pirro at WorldSBK.com
• Michele Pirro at the CONI honoured athlete website (in Italian)
• Michele Pirro at AS.com (in Spanish)