Pedercini sign Morelli.

Team Pedercini has signed young Italian Luca Morelli to ride a second Ducati 999RS alongside Dean Ellison for the rest of the 2007 World Superbike season.

"Last December I started to think about moving to four-stroke motorbikes," explained Luca, who scored two points in last year's 250cc World Championship with Nocable Angaia Aprilia (top pics). "I have physically grown up a lot and the 250 GP began to make me feel cramped. I know that [WSBK] will be really hard, especially because I'm only 19, but I'll try to make a good impression. I don't have any target but learning, and I trust the team to help me."

"Luca has great potential," added team principal Donato Pedercini, "but he must work hard in order to learn quickly how to handle a Superbike. Unfortunately we won't have the opportunity to work easily, because we are already into the season, but I trust on his skills in order to reduce the gap with our competitors. We really trust in Luca and we are sure that he will show his potential this season."