Petrucci re-signs with Barni Ducati for 2025 WorldSBK

Danilo Petrucci will remain in the FIM Superbike World Championship for a third season, having re-signed with the Barni Spark Racing Team for 2025. The Italian veteran joined World Superbikes (WorldSBK) in 2023 with Barni and has been building momentum in the category ever since.

Petruccci’s time in WorldSBK is the latest entry in a riding resume that includes MotoGP, Superstock 600 and 1000 (including a season with Barni Ducati in 2011), the MotoAmerica series and even the Dakar Rally.

The contract extension, signed after the Portuguese WorldSBK round in August, will see Petrucci remain on the satellite team’s Ducati Panigale V4 R in 2025. The 33-year-old will have a team mate next year, too, with Barni Spark Racing to elevate their World Supersport rider, Yari Montella, to WorldSBK in 2025.

“[Barni] is the team where I was before going to MotoGP, and the one with which I returned to a World Championship after Dakar and MotoAmerica,” Petrucci explained. “In short, I feel at home here, and the renewal was what I wanted.

“Barni, his family and his team give everything they have to make a competitive bike. I’m not that young anymore, but I still feel good, and as long as I’m in shape, I have no intention of staying home. Barni and I still want to enjoy some success together, this year and next.”

That success came much sooner than expected, with Petrucci winning all three races at the Italian round in September. The Race 1 victory, Petrucci’s first ever in WorldSBK, came after having to start from sixth on the grid due to a penalty. More significantly, Petrucci beat the factory Ducatis of Nicolo Bulega and defending WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista to take the win.

Victory in the following day’s Superpole Race gave Petrucci pole for Race 2, which he won in comfortable fashion, again getting the better of the factory Ducatis.

While the absence of BMW’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, who was dominating the championship prior to injury at the French WorldSBK round, clearly benefitted Petrucci, he certainly wasn’t handed his wins at the Italian round – he had to fight for them against the likes of Bautista, Bulega and others.