Is this WSBK's next title-challenging rookie star?

Yari Montella, having signed to race with the Barni Spark Ducati team in 2025, is the second rider to step up to WorldSBK from WorldSSP in the past two seasons to do so with Ducati, after Nicolo Bulega made the move in 2024.

Bulega won six races and remained in mathematical title contention until the final round in his rookie year, but Montella is aware of the task awaiting him in 2025.

“I will sign if it’s possible to make a season like him [Nicolo Bulega], because it’s not easy,” Montella told WorldSBK.com at the recent EICMA motorcycle show in Milan.

“We are talking about two different categories, two different motorbikes; I need to understand a lot of things, a lot of electronics on the bike, I need to manage in a different way the tyre.

“So, for sure I have many things different from this year to the next one. I hope to understand as soon as possible, and come to fight for great results, great positions during the year.”

Montella comes to WorldSBK after fighting for the WorldSSP title in 2024 with the same Barni team he’s stepping up with.

Ultimately, Montella came up short after a crash at the penultimate round in Estoril, and Adrian Huertas took the title.

“We were missing something at the end,” Montella reflected. “We did two crashes that [took us out] of the fight for the title.”

Such mistakes are to be expected in such a hard fought title fight, Montella said: “At the end, it was a great year; they are some things that I think can happen in a year like that, with this level, because we were always pushing.

“At the end, I’m so happy and proud for the work that we did, and I think it’s something that I can understand for the next one.”