Torres to step up to SuperSport World Championship with Ducati

Jesus Torres has been crowned champion of the inaugural Ducati V2 Future Champ series in Italy and will move up to the SuperSport World Championship in 2027, riding a Panigale V2 for the Renzi team.

Michele Pirro, who was the driving force behind the initiative alongside Ducati, said the series was designed to give young riders a route into the World Championship. He said the project had kept every promise made at its start and that, in his view, it is the only championship in Italy that allows a young rider to make that step, apart from Valentino Rossi's VR46 programme.

Pirro also pointed to the single-cylinder bike and the right specifications for riders aged 16 and up as the reason Ducati had not run such a programme earlier, adding that the first year had been a success.