Michele Pirro goes under the knife: will he race the CIV Superbike Racing Night?

Michele Pirro forced to undergo surgery on his left shoulder: his participation in the CIV Superbike Racing Night at Misano is in doubt.

Bad blow for Michele Pirro. The Ducati Corse test rider, due to a worsening of the injured left shoulder, has undergone surgery. According to what has been learned, the ten-time Italian Champion is seriously at risk of missing the CIV Superbike Racing Night event at Misano scheduled for July 24–26.

Michele Pirro, who this year moved to defend the colors of “his” Garage 51 by DTO team after 122 races and 7 CIV Superbike titles won with Barni Racing, injured his left shoulder on June 4 during the Imola round. Following a heavy crash on the Thursday pre-event test, he suffered tears to two tendons, gritting his teeth to take a third and a seventh place in the two races. Four weeks later he went down again, this time at Misano, on the eve of the 2026 edition of World Ducati Week. A fall, which occurred on Thursday, July 2, that worsened the tendon injury. In the following days the Apulian rider tried to contest the Race of Champions, but had to throw in the towel early due to severe pain.

Not exactly how he imagined celebrating his 40th birthday, which fell on Sunday, July 5. “Mission accomplished! Surgery successful, everything went great,” Michele Pirro reported directly from the hospital bed in a video message shared on his personal social channels. “A huge thank you to Professor Porcellini and all his extraordinary team for their professionalism and care. Now the most important part begins: recovering as best as possible. The countdown to get back on track has already started. See you soon, more fired up than before.” Somewhat customary in matters concerning him, without providing further details.

Based on the information in our possession, Michele Pirro will have to observe a convalescence period yet to be determined. The timing of his return to the saddle of the Garage 51 by DTO Ducati Panigale V4 also remains uncertain. It seems quite unlikely we’ll see him in action in a couple of weeks at Misano for the highly anticipated CIV Superbike Racing Night weekend. For the Ducati rider, currently second in the championship, 25 points behind leader Alessandro Delbianco (DMR Racing), the dream of clinching his eleventh tricolor plate is becoming an uphill battle. On this topic, more will be known in the coming days, with the Garage 51 team possibly deciding to field a replacement rider.