Currently MotoGP is awash with shapeshifting, eyesore Ducatis. They’re everywhere from Bastianini battling hard at the front all the way down to Luca Marini at the back waving to his mum. So do we need another warped monstrosity at Mugello blasting past everyone on the long bendy straight? Well we’re getting one anyway…
What?
Currently there are eight Ducati mutations offending our eyeballs in every MotoGP race (or at least until Jorge Martin falls off). But this weekend in Italy there will be an extra one bike littered with carbon fibre aero devices on every angle.
Who?
Michele Pirro is Ducati’s Italian test rider. Due to some quaint Italian law, probably instigated by the pope, Ducati were able to purchase Pirro over a decade ago and legally adopt him as their child. Since doing so they’ve been able to put poor Michele to work testing new and often dangerous parts for their bikes to see if they improve performance or cause life-altering fires.
However it’s not all work for Pirro. As a reward for his tireless testing regime the Italian is given half-day off at Christmas and also allowed to wildcard with the genuine MotoGP riders at Mugello. Obviously Michele treats the Mugello weekend as a bonus and is blissfully unaware that Ducati use the event to monitor his speed relative to the real riders to understand if his feedback is still relevant. The day that Pirro falls below the expected threshold will probably be also the day he tragically falls into an industrial pasta churning machine.
More is more?
Nine’s a big number. It’s the number of kids that Yorkshire shepherdess has had to provide her with years of free labour. It’s also the number of championships Marquez wants but probably won’t ever get. But nine Ducati bikes in one race?
When it comes to tactics Ducati favour the more-is-more method. And why wouldn’t they? They’ve been successfully using this tactic for many seasons now despite not having won a championship for over 14 years
Will we see Pirro again this year?
Amazingly yes! Michele has been told that he can participate in two other races. Given that there will only be one Italian round after this weekend it’s assumed that the test rider will be allowed to go abroad for the first time in over a decade…although he’ll never be allowed to see his passport and will be monitored and restrained cold-war style.