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The riders of the CIV Italian domestic Championship have begun to warm up their engines ahead of the first Round of the season, which will start in Misano on the first weekend of April. An appointment that will see Filippo Rovelli tackle his first race riding the Ducati Panigale V4 2025 of the Barni 51 Racing Lab team, aiming to be immediately among the protagonists of the new and highly anticipated Production Bike class - which is the big new change of CIV 2025, which will share the grid with the tricolor Superbike. An exciting challenge for the young Lombard rider, who began laying the foundations of this new adventure last week in Vallelunga. Immediately finding a good feeling with his new Rossa.
"I felt very good right from the start with the Ducati," Rovelli told us, drawing a positive balance of the two days on the capital track, "I also liked the team right away and we worked hard, continuing to work even though we didn't have telemetry because of a little problem. In general, I was very comfortable with the Ducati, but I will need some time to get used to the Dunlop tires. I have always raced with Pirelli, and the riding style I used with those tires is different from what I should use with Dunlop. I had two crashes, precisely because I still have to get used to them."
How different is the Ducati from the BMW you raced with in 2024?
"The Ducati is very ready underneath, however, it's a little bit slower in the rear than the BMW. This is normal, because my BMW last year was prepared, while this one, by regulation, has to be a standard bike. In spite of that, as soon as I got off the Ducati after the first session I immediately said it was lovely: it has a lot of engine underneath, it takes you out of the corners and it's very nice to ride."
Tell us how this project with Barni came about?
"We were at EICMA trying to understand the possible paths I could follow: CEV, CIV or the National Trophy. I didn't know that Barni was looking for another rider, or even this new category, until we talked to each other right there at EICMA. We hit it off, and in the end I decided to ride with Barni because it is one of the best teams in the Italian Championship."
How did it feel for you to share the box with a rider with Michele Pirro's experience and track record? Did you ask him for any advice?
"Yes yes, I asked him for advice because not having telemetry we could not understand a few things, such as why the bike was not closing the corners well. I was struggling a lot in the first sector, so I asked him if I could do two laps behind him to see how he was dealing with the first corner, and he helped me a lot to understand that maybe I was doing a little bit wrong, but we weren't even right with the bike. Having a rider like Michele Pirro in the box can only help you, just by the fact that you can see what he does, listen to how he explains problems to his chief technician and data technician, and see how they solve them. That alone helps you so much."
What difference do you expect between the Production Bike and the Superbike in terms of performance? Do you think you will be able to play it out or will there be a big gap?
"With the top 3 or 4 in Superbike there will definitely be a bit of a gap, but both myself and the other Production Bike riders will try our best to try to stay as far ahead as we can and fight it out with the Superbike riders. If a rider is really strong, I think he can manage to stay behind them, even if you have to struggle to do it. The difference is not engine or anything else, but lies in the fact that they have more components that can help them in riding."
In general, what is your idea of this new category?
"It's very nice, because it's a little bit reminiscent of the Stock 1000 that was in World Superbike. I always liked that category, I used to watch the races as a kid when riders like Federico Sandi, Toprak Razgatlioglu or even Luca Salvadori raced there. I think this category can grow a lot. There will be a lot of strong riders at the start: quite a few young riders, some experienced riders and some coming from the Moto2 World Championship."
Do you think this class can be a stepping stone for you, for a future arrival in World Superbike?
"Exactly: that was really one of the things we thought about when we were evaluating the proposals I had, because doing well in Production Bike with BMW maybe I would not have the same stepping stone that I could have with Ducati. That was one more point to make me opt for Team Barni, because if you do well with them and with a Ducati you definitely get noticed."
Maybe even Barnabò himself could give you an opportunity in the future.
"Yes, having the team also in World Superbike, if in a race he wants to field an extra bike, or has to make a substitution, he is the one who decides who to bet on. But it will also depend on how this year goes: if I do well, more possibilities will definitely open up."
Should you not have a chance in the World Championship, would you prefer to continue in Production Bike or move to CIV Superbike?
"CIV Superbike is a championship I really like, but there were few riders on the grid in the past years and that's why I preferred to race in ESBK, where there were more riders and with a lot of experience like Tito Rabat or Ivo Lopez, who also raced in World Superbike. In terms of level and starting grid, it is a championship that inspired me more than CIV Superbike. Plus, I liked the idea of racing on Spanish tracks with a big bike, after having tested them in the 300. If I then get a proposal from a good CIV Superbike team, it is certainly not a championship I would say no to, but having to choose I would prefer World Superbike, or the Spanish Superbike Championship. Production Bike is however a category that inspires me a lot, because since there are practically standard bikes, and therefore all the same, the 'skill' of the rider counts more here than in CIV Superbike, where some bikes are a bit more prepared than others."
You will still have two more days of testing in Misano before the first Round of the year. Will that be enough, or will you need a little more time to get everything set up?
"I should be getting the practice bike soon, which is pretty much identical to the Barni team bike. So, I'd like to try to get out on the track before the tests in Misano to get used to the tires better, but I think by Round 1 I'll have squared the circle by then anyway. Already in Vallelunga I lapped both days in times that were very close to Stirpe's: I was a little faster than him on the first day, while he did a tenth better than me on the second. He knows the Dunlops well, having used them in CIV Supersport 600, and then I guess he had already done some testing on this bike, as he is a Ducati tester. I am calm, because the fact that I went very strong last year makes me much more convinced of myself. And then I'm very happy and satisfied with how the tests went in Vallelunga."
Is it still early to start setting any goals for yourself, or have you already started thinking about it?
"My goal is definitely to win. Maybe it's still too early, but those are obviously the ambitions."
Photo credit: Barni 51 Racing Lab
