No place for Yari Montella in the Ducati factory team: “Perhaps in the future”

It has not yet been officially confirmed, but Franco Morbidelli is set to move from MotoGP to the 2027 Superbike World Championship as Nicolò Bulega’s successor in the Aruba.it Ducati factory team. Not everyone could understand this move, as there are several younger riders in the paddock of the production-based World Championship who are pushing for a place in the factory team – first and foremost the current World Championship third-placed rider, Yari Montella.

The Italian has been riding for the Barni Racing Team, which has close ties to Ducati, since 2023. Having finished third in the 2024 Supersport World Championship, the 26-year-old moved up to the top category and is impressing in his second season with a podium rate of nearly 50 per cent – in the 27 races so far, he has crossed the finish line in third place eleven times and in second place twice. Does Montella feel overlooked by the Ducati works team?

“That’s fine by me. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the future. I’m still a young lad, more or less, and even if it doesn’t work out for 2027, it could happen in a few years’ time,” said Montella when asked by SPEEDWEEK.com editor-in-chief Ivo Schützbach. “At the end of the day, I don’t want to get bogged down in things I have no control over. I can only prove myself on the track and I’m focusing on myself so that I can deliver my best performance in every session and every race.”

What’s more, Barni Racing’s Ducati V4R is every bit as good as the factory bikes. Danilo Petrucci proved this two years ago when he won all three races at the Superbike debut in Cremona. Furthermore, the pressure to succeed is lower in a customer team.

“At Barni Racing, I feel like I’m with my family. It’s a genuine privateer team that welcomes me and makes me feel at home. I can see the team’s efforts to keep improving the bike. At the moment, I feel absolutely at home with my current team. They give 100 per cent so that I can improve myself and my riding style,” said the Italian, praising Marco Barnabo’s team. “Luckily, Barni has also raised my salary a little for next year, which I was really pleased about. For me, the relationship with the team has to be right too; that’s more important than necessarily having to ride for a works team. The atmosphere in our team is so great that I want to continue enjoying it. And our package has the potential for more – why shouldn’t a win be possible too? That’s our goal, and we’re working towards it constantly. Finishing third isn’t our goal.”

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