Michele Pirro Clinches Seventh Italian Superbike Title, Solidifying Legacy with Ducati

Michele Pirro clinches his seventh Italian Superbike championship

Michele Pirro, who also serves as a test rider for Ducati in MotoGP, has once again claimed the CIV Italian Superbike crown.

Michele Pirro, who serves as the official test rider for Ducati Corse's MotoGP and WorldSBK teams, has secured his seventh CIV Italian Superbike championship.

Pirro, who competes for the Barni Ducati team that also includes Danilo Petrucci in the World Superbike Championship and Yari Montella in the World Supersport Championship, secured the championship last weekend at Mugello.

Pirro clinched his seventh championship in the CIV Superbike category, adding to his previous wins in 2015, from 2016 to 2019, and in 2021 and 2022. This victory also marked his 10th overall title in the CIV series, which includes his Superstock 1000 championships in 2007 and 2008, and a Supersport championship in 2009.

This count places Pirro third on the historical leaderboard for CIV championships, trailing only Tarquinio Provini with 11 championships and Giacomo Agostini with 16, the latter having secured 10 consecutive 500cc championships from 1968 to 1977.

This title follows the contentious conclusion of the 2023 CIV Superbike season at Imola, where an incident occurred between Pirro and his title rival, Lorenzo Zanetti. Zanetti collided with Pirro at the Variante Bassa, causing Pirro, who is now a seven-time Superbike Champion, to fall and ultimately lose the title to Zanetti.

Zanetti chose not to compete for his CIV title this year and has been participating in the IDM German Superbike Championship instead. He started his IDM season strongly with a victory in the opening race at the Sachsenring. However, his only other podium finish was in the second race of the latest round at the Nurburgring. Meanwhile, Ilya Mikhalchik has dominated the series, securing his fourth IDM Superbike championship title this year.

Javier Zanetti's absence has aligned with an outstanding season for Michele Pirro. Over five rounds, Pirro, donning the #51, has claimed victory in seven out of ten races. Alessandro Delbianco emerged victorious when Pirro was unable to finish Race 1 during the initial Mugello event and again when Pirro secured fourth place in Race 2 of the second Misano event. Most recently, Luca Bernardi won Race 2 at Mugello last weekend, where Pirro secured the championship title.

The concluding event of the 2024 CIV Superbike season is scheduled to happen at Imola from September 27 to 29.

Photo courtesy of Ducati Corse/X.

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