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The Barni Spark Racing Team are expanding to two bikes in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship next year, with Danilo Petrucci remaining with the team as he’s joined by WorldSBK rookie Yari Montella. The pair have been ‘teammates’ in that they’ve raced for the same team but in two different categories, but that will change in 2025 when Montella steps up to WorldSBK after a successful season in WorldSSP where he took seven wins and battled for the title.

Montella heads into his first WorldSBK campaign after two seasons with Barni Ducati in WorldSSP, where he claimed seven race wins in 2024 and fought for the title although ultimately came up short and finished in third. He was the team’s sole rider in that Championship, but he was in the box with Petrucci with the #9 competing in WorldSBK and, while they wouldn’t have been able to directly help each other by sharing data, they would’ve been able to build a strong relationship.

They will share the box in 2025 as WorldSBK riders as Petrucci stays with the team for a third season, as does Montella but he is changing class. The team will run two Panigale V4 Rs in WorldSBK next season as Montella, who ran the #55 in WorldSSP, makes his debut in World Superbike. During the EICMA show in Milan, Montella explained how he hopes to learn from Petrucci and what ‘Petrux’ will be able to give him to help him succeed.

Discussing how he hopes Petrucci will help him, Montella said: “I hope that he’ll give me some kicks of WorldSBK, but really, I don’t know. In these two years, we were teammates, but in two different categories. We never worked together. I look to him as a friend. I’m always his rival and he’s always my rival but, in the end, I expect a great ambience in the box because we are two great guys, I think, and in the team there’s a great atmosphere that we don’t want to break.”

Given Petrucci’s vast experience not just in WorldSBK but MotoGP™, MotoAmerica, STK1000 and STK600, it’s no surprise that Montella is keen to learn from the three-time race winner. However, Petrucci also believes he’ll be able to learn from his rookie teammate too as they look to make a formidable duo in WorldSBK, combining experience and youth as they aim to help Barni Ducati retain the Independent Teams’ title that they won this year.

Explaining how he can help Montella but also how Montella can help him, Petrucci said: “I’m quite happy because having another rider, especially a fast one like Yari, is always a good thing. He’s quite young and really motivated. He can help me to keep focused. I don’t know which areas we can improve each other. He’s got a lot of speed and I can learn something from him.”

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