Aruba.it Ducati set for three MotoGP™ wildcards in 2022

Aruba.it Racing will title sponsor Ducati Lenovo Team’s Test Rider Michele Pirro at this weekend’s Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley as the Italian embarks on the first of three MotoGP™ wildcard appearances in 2022.

Alongside announcing they will continue to partner Ducati in WorldSBK for another two years, extending a relationship that began in 2015, Aruba.it will also feature on Pirro’s Desmosedici GP22s – first at Mugello, and then again at the Catalan and San Marino GPs. Former MotoGP™ star Alvaro Bautista currently leads the WorldSBK overall standings on the Aruba.it Ducati after adding one win and three podiums to his tally in Estoril.  

Stefano Cecconi, Aruba.it Racing: “We have a very close relationship with Ducati and the test team of Ducati that is mainly shared between WorldSBK and MotoGP. We were discussing the renewal of our collaboration, to extend it for a few more years in the WorldSBK paddock, and during these discussions, the idea arose to bring our livery and name, to give this livery to the wildcards that the test team will do every year in MotoGP. It’s the first time for us and it will be nice to see our colours in a different paddock.

Of course we hope to get the best possible result even if usually the work of the test team is different from the factory team that is mainly focused on results, the test team is mainly focused on the development. It’s not always possible to push to the limit while you have to do a different job on track. Nevertheless Michele has great experience, especially on those tracks, so we expect to have a good result but we can’t say that too strongly.”

Serafino Foti, Aruba.it Racing: “First of all I would like to underline that this will be the first time a livery is used in MotoGP and in WorldSBK, this is wonderful, this is fantastic. We will do three wildcard in MotoGP this year with Michele Pirro and the Ducati test team. We are using the same livery of our Panigale V4 but also the livery of the MotoGP garage will be the same as our WorldSBK garage, so this is nice. Of course it will be a great experience, it will be exciting and interesting to explore new scenarios and also to learn new things from a top MotoGP team. The current level of MotoGP is unbelievable but for sure we will do our best and I hope that we can enjoy the race weekend.

“My role, first of all, I’ll be there to represent Aruba.it Racing. My role will be sporting director of Michele Pirro, of the Aruba.it Racing team. For me it’s the first time after 37 years in this paddock, so as I say for me it will be a great experience and exciting to learn from a top MotoGP team.

“Michele has a lot of experience and is still a very fast rider. He’s a real asset to Ducati for the great job he does in MotoGP, as you can see the results are excellent. I expect to enjoy the weekend and I can’t wait to see him in the Aruba.it livery.”

Claudio Domenicali, CEO Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.: “We are truly satisfied with the long-term partnership that has bound us to Aruba.it for eight years. It is a company that, like Ducati, represents Italian excellence driven by innovation. The agreement extension until 2024 confirms the quality of a partnership which has gone from strength to strength year after year from a business and sporting point of view.

“In addition to the extensive commitment to World Superbike, this season includes the new challenge in the Supersport World Championship and the satisfaction of seeing a Ducati racing in MotoGP with the Aruba.it Racing team colours that, for all the fans, are the natural colours of the official Panigale V4 R competing in the Superbike World Championship.”