Never take anything for granted": Andrea Mercaldo's racing fairytale, ready for the Ducati V2 Trophy

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 at 09:59

Andrea Mercaldo among the protagonists of the new Ducati V2 Trophy. His is an uncommon story: we tell it to you in this interview.

This will be his first real championship with big bikes. Andrea Mercaldo, born in 2002 from Fossanova (in the province of Latina), will be among the protagonists of the new V2 Future Champ Ducati Academy Trophy. A great challenge for the 24-year-old from Lazio, who, with his work as a surveyor and the help of his parents, finances his great passion for two-wheeled racing. What’s particular is that he doesn’t boast a real, linear racing career like others we’ve told you about: he started at 16 and has only competed in two racing seasons in the 160 class of the National Speed Championship CNV. Another great experience is the university challenge in two editions of MotoStudent as a rider for “La Sapienza” in Rome. Two points in a unique journey that taught him a lot, especially never to take anything for granted. We asked him to tell us his story.

Last week there were the official tests with the V2.

The first day was cloudy, then in the evening and at night it poured a ton of rain, so the next morning we didn’t ride and waited until the afternoon. Then in the second session, when we were third, it started raining again. The kicker was that it was raining from Turn 1 to Tramonto, and from there on it wasn’t raining anymore, so you had both wet and dry… Oh well. Some of us are followed directly by Garage51, then there are various private teams, some Austrian guys who are followed by Gabor Talmacsi… Michael Dunlop also rode with the Ducati V4, I even have a photo at Quercia with him behind me! Then there was Tardozzi, we even introduced ourselves, I was excited. I thought I was in a movie!

How did it go on track?

On Monday I did 47 laps, on Tuesday 17 laps, three in the morning still in the wet just to bed in the brake pads. Meanwhile Michele Pirro at one point followed me from Carro to Misano 2, then passed me to show me the lines from Turn 1 to Tramonto. And then he scolded me for some things I was doing wrong, like braking too early and releasing the brakes too early, something more typical of small bikes. If you do that, the bike runs wide and you go off line, whereas this is a bike that lets you brake very late and therefore hold the ideal line. In general, I was asking everyone for advice, you can always learn something from anyone.

Let’s take a step back: when does your motorcycle story begin? Not very early…

I first put my butt on a bike when I was already a bit grown up, at 16-17, on rental Ohvales at the Sagittario. Before that I had never used a bike on track and I didn’t even have a moped license. My parents are the furthest people from the motorcycle world: mom is a homemaker, dad is a surveyor and soccer coach. In fact, I played soccer until I was about 16, like my brother, and I like it a lot. But not as much as bikes; another “bug” of mine is mountain biking: my father raced bikes when he was little, but he never suggested it to me. That, however, is the passion we have in common.

So where do the motorcycles come from then?

I don’t know, no one ever raced or is that passionate! But I have a memory of little me following bikes on TV: I especially remember the 2011 MotoGP World Championship, when Stoner won on the Honda, so I got into him, the one who was winning. He was my first special rider. I also remember Simoncelli… I’d say that’s my year zero. I didn’t get into the technical side, but into what the riders were doing on the bikes, I was fascinated.

And there wasn’t any “sign” at home?

My mother told me about the little motorbike my grandfather gave me that I always kept in my stroller as a kid, not because he was a fan but because he saw that I liked it. I also have a photo of me as a kid on a neighbor’s Kawasaki 600. Where I’m from there’s also a shop, but for enduro. Off-road didn’t fascinate me as a kid, but since I tried it I like it a ton! The owner, Gianni Carroccia, has known me since I was born: he gave me my first suit, and I’m always at his place to change the tires on my training CBR 600 or whatever else. Two days out of three I’m there, when he opens I’m already there with the Doblo and the bike loaded [laughs]. And there’s also Giovanni Saccoccio, a former motorcyclist now the owner of a hardware store under my house, who gave me my first big bike, an old 2005 CBR 1000 that I used for my training before the 600 I have now.

So at 16 you start riding.

Yes, I was doing stints with the rental Ohvales at the Sagittario. I never had any trouble learning to ride, on TV I watched the racers a lot and how they rode the bikes, what they did. Obviously those were MotoGP bikes, but I watched them a lot. Once I got on a bike everything came naturally, no one taught me. Good thing, otherwise it would’ve all ended right away! I loved it a ton and after about a year, in September 2019, my parents decided to buy me an Ohvale 160 with the help of the guys at the Sagittario, who already knew me by then. From the circuit I especially have to thank Enrico and Pino Montani, who always support and put up with me, and “Fusketto,” always ready to give me a hand on track.

Then the time for the first races arrives, right?

They issued my license for CNV races right away, then in March 2020, shortly after my 18th birthday, everything shut down for Covid… When they reopened, there was the chance to go training; they had organized this mini test day for those who were going to do the championships, and there were also some guys from a team in Molise. I did my first CNV race with them, in July at the Sagittario. Then I did another wild card in Arce—it was a new track back then—but I laid it down 3–4 times… I gave it a proper inauguration! But in the end I finished 4th or 5th, and there they give medals to the top 5, so I brought something home. One thing that matters to me is coming home with something; going home empty-handed bothers me.

Then it’s time for the first full championship.

In 2021 I did the entire CNV 160 championship for the first time and I even made it to the national final in Ortona, where I finished 5th. In 2022 I kept racing in CNV with the same team: I finished 3rd and there was the awards ceremony at CONI—mind-blowing, beautiful! It was the world I knew; I didn’t have a clear picture of racing, and for me that already felt like the pinnacle. Actually, it was a constant discovery. In 2023 the team didn’t take part in the championship anymore, and that’s when I started to discover another side of it: the financial one.

An “ugly” discovery.

Up to that point I didn’t pay to race; they had helped me a lot with support, championship registration, tires, everything. But that year I discovered the financial side. Even more so when in the summer of 2023 I tried an R3, so a big bike: a major turning point—I didn’t want to get back on the Ohvale anymore! Before that, though, I had met the students from “La Sapienza” University and they suggested I try their MotoStudent prototype: I didn’t even know what it was, but I said yes right away.

A new challenge for you.

We talked in April; in August we got back in touch because the bike, the “Arrabbiata,” was ready, and in September they brought it to the Sagittario. It felt like I was trying a MotoGP bike! I rode it easily right away, like it was mine. Then we also went to Vallelunga, but it started badly: two riders collided at the end of the straight, they spilled oil and I was the first one coming through… That was my first lap at Vallelunga! But we managed to carry on, then we did two days of testing at Magione with the bike without fairings, and that’s where I met Delbianco.

Did he give you some advice?

I asked him a ton! He taught me how to lap at Magione, how to read the track and how to ride the bike. He was in the garage next to ours, so we’d exchange a few words now and then. After those tests, we went to Aragon.

MotoStudent gets serious.

First time on a plane, first trip alone far from home, first time in a paddock—everything was new. But I felt at ease, like I was at home! I did laps all around the paddock, went into other garages, then came back… I qualified 5th and then finished third in the race! I had a terrible start, but I was really calm and very clear-headed. I did the in-lap screaming, and then I saw the guys in the garage—it was the first time they’d achieved a noteworthy result: it was the most powerful emotion I’ve ever felt! But Aragon gives and Aragon takes away: two years later we did MotoStudent again and it was the biggest disappointment; I crashed… The opposite emotion.

What were you doing in the meantime?

I kept riding at the Sagittario, tried a few bikes… Until in 2025 I tried a V4 during free practice for the Pirelli Cup 1000 of the Coppa Italia at Misano, a big track I didn’t know. I had an accident, but everything ended over a “budget issue,” not my fault, and I didn’t get any more opportunities. It kind of shook my peace of mind… But wandering around the paddock helped: I met Michele Pirro, then I went to watch the last CIV race at Mugello and that’s where they presented the new V2 Trophy.

A new opportunity for you!

By then I was thinking of giving up; without them I wouldn’t have done anything else. But shortly before Christmas I spoke with Luigi, the organizer of the trophy, then I spoke on the phone with Michele. In February I went to another meeting at Vallelunga and in the end I convinced my father to give me this last chance. I have to thank everyone at Garage51 for this: Luigi and Michele, but also Sara, Matteo nicknamed “Mario,” Carmine, always ready to give me crucial advice, Francesco from the store… They’re fantastic!

Let’s remember you’re a surveyor, a rider… But you’re also an instructor.

Yes, still at the Sagittario. One thing I always tell the kids is to make 100% use of the times they get to be on track, never take it for granted. Instead, sometimes I see some kids a bit unmotivated in class saying, “Well, I’ll be back in the next few days anyway!” as if it were normal—which it isn’t. My dad took me to the track when he could; those days were gold! Months would go by, I’d pester him until he gave in and took me back. You should never take anything for granted; you have to give it proper importance with the right commitment because you’re privileged.

First goal for 2026?

I’d like to finish at least in the top 10 in the championship. The goal for the first race, though, is to get really close to the front-runners’ times, and I have to improve every time I get on track. But I proceed through many small goals; when I hit one, I set another… They vary a lot.

Do you have any goals or dreams for the future?

Road races and endurance fascinate me a lot; I’d especially like to make it to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 8 Hours of Suzuka. I don’t think it’s impossible if the stars align…