Matteo Ferrari: MotoE, Endurance and a new beginning in World Supersport

There are some riders that, when being interviewed, have always a lot to share and genuinely open up, speaking with complete honesty and detailed analysis. To this category belongs, with no doubt, Matteo Ferrari.

Ferrari, whose career I revisited with him in a video interview from 2025, is taking on a new challenge in 2026, as he joined the Supersport World Championship. The Italian rider has already claimed two podium finishes, at Phillip Island and Aragón and both in Race 2, and has proven competitive on the Ducati lined up by the WRP Racing Team. This comes after many seasons in MotoE, where he won the inaugural edition in 2019 (when it was still a World Cup), and after a 2025 season that also saw him race in the Endurance World Championship with the Aviobike WRS Team.

Palmen in Motorradsport spoke with Matteo Ferrari once again to discuss the 2026 campaign, the past season, his chapter in MotoE and more.

Matteo, how has the 2026 season started?

We are going well. You always start a season aiming to be in the front, and I certainly did not expect to be at the back, but I admit it was difficult to have precise expectations. The races I did in 2025 at Estoril and Jerez (again with WRP Racing as a replacement for Marcel Schrötter, ed), where I also scored points despite having very little experience with this bike, provided a solid foundation for this year. And we started well in testing, although the rainy weather played a big role during the winter.

Then we arrived at Phillip Island, which is always some kind of “wildcard” circuit, and the tyres were also slightly different. We didn’t really know what to expect. Instead, we worked very well during the test we had on Monday and Tuesday in that week, we qualified in a strong position, and we were fast in both races. The podium in Race 2 also came thanks to the right tyre choice (he was one of the very few riders to start on slick tyres, and not on wet ones, ed), but in Race 1 I finished sixth and was fighting for the top five in dry conditions, so the pace was there regardless of the conditions.

And how were the first races in Europe?

What many people do not realize about this category is that, unlike most others, testing is not limited. You can test as much as you want. In my opinion, that creates some “lack of balance” throughout the field, especially at the beginning of the season. In Australia, I think we were all starting from the same point, because everyone had roughly the same mileage over the winter. At Portimão, however, the difference became apparent, compared to riders who had done more testing between the first two rounds. With the current format, you only get one free practice session before going straight into Superpole, so there is very little time to try new things. In Portugal, even though we were not far from the leaders, we ended up behind them.

The rounds at Assen and Balaton Park gave us different results, but we were consistently fast on both tracks. In Race 1 at Assen, I finished 14th, scored points, and crossed the line only seven seconds behind the winner, despite starting last (due to a tyre pressure penalty, ed). In Race 2 I finished 13th, partly because of the red flag (caused by Roberto García’s crash, ed), but my pace was comparable to the frontrunners. In Hungary, on the other hand, we were fast in qualifying, which had been our weak point, and we came close to the podium and were the top Ducati riders on a track that is very difficult for this bike. At Most and Aragón, we were also quick, consistently in the top five and on the podium again in Race 2 at MotorLand Aragón.

At this point, do you expect to be fighting for victories in the coming races?

I think it will vary a lot from circuit to circuit, but I genuinely believe we can aim for race wins sooner or later. There will also be times when the riders fighting for the championship are thinking more about the title, whereas someone in my position can rather take it race by race. In any case, I believe I already have the bike and the team capable of winning.

Before talking about your MotoE years, what can you tell us about your 2025 Endurance World Championship season with Aviobike WRS Ducati?

I had already done some EWC races as a substitute rider back in 2017, but a lot of time had passed and I did not really know what to expect. Then this opportunity came along and there were many aspects that appealed to me, including the idea of putting the new Ducati V4R on the podium, so I accepted it. It was also very demanding, because Endurance racing involves extremely tough conditions. Above all, it’s not easy to accept a DNF after spending so many hours on the bike.

It was a shame that we only managed to finish one race, the 8 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. However, we were competitive on several occasions, and at the Bol d’Or we had the pace to reach the podium in our category. Overall, it was a great experience. In the future, I would love to race as well in the Suzuka 8 Hours, a dream that’s not yet come true for me.

How did that experience change you?

What you really learn is how you can race in extreme conditions, in which sprint races would often be stopped or even cancelled. At Spa, for example, there were moments when it was raining heavily and I had to ride for two consecutive hours in those conditions. One moment the sun would briefly come out, with the light reflecting off the wet track and preventing good visibility, and ten minutes later it could be raining so hard that you could barely see the racing lines and you could have aquaplaning everywhere.

To be honest, we riders sometimes complain when it starts raining and there seems to be too much water on the track, but in the end it is usually still possible to ride. Endurance racing changes your mindset and makes you more decisive when making calls that can lead to a great result, like the tire choice in Race 2 at Phillip Island.

Shall we now move to the “MotoE side” of your 2025 season?

It was certainly a somewhat unusual year. We had some issues that stopped us in the opening races, including two retirements at Le Mans where perhaps I should have settled for “lower” results, plus other problems caused by external factors. It was a shame, because we had been very fast straight from winter testing, but DNF’s are extremely costly in a championship with so few races. Even so, it was a positive season. I felt comfortable at every circuit and returned to winning races and scoring multiple podiums after struggling so much in 2024, which was definitely my worst MotoE season. I finished third overall and remained in contention for the title until the end.

What do you think about your time in the MotoE World Championship overall?

The end of MotoE felt like the end of a major chapter in the careers of many riders. This applies especially to me, because I was there from the very first test in 2018 until the final race in 2025, without missing a single Grand Prix. I feel a part of me is still there.

Overall, I am more than satisfied with how it went, because I finished in the top 3 in six out of seven seasons. In terms of consistency, there is not much to complain about. It’s true that some third places were genuine third places, while others could easily have been P1 or P2, but that is how any racing career goes. MotoE certainly gave me the opportunity to be a professional rider for many years. Credit must be given for that. In some ways it was a limiting category, but in others it allowed several riders to become professionals, which we know is far from guaranteed today.

In what way do you feel it helped you develop as a rider?

It definitely taught me how to be fast immediately, and that is something I still carry into everything I do. The races were always very short, so you had to be quick in every condition and adapt rapidly. I think that wasn’t my strongest point in that moment: I have always been very good at race pace, but I sometimes struggled a bit more in practice and qualifying. MotoE completely changed that for me. It helped me perform better right away on any bike. Today that is even more important, because if you start near the front and manage the opening laps well, you have already done 80% of the work.

And why do you think that MotoE limited your career as well?

It kind of prevented me from getting some opportunities for the following years. I was in a very strong team (Gresini Racing, ed), and I knew that strong results could potentially open doors in other world series. The problem was that MotoE was often viewed as a completely separate world, making it difficult for teams in other categories to imagine you on a different bike. In some respects it makes sense, but I also believe that a fast rider is generally fast in any category.

If you win Moto3, you move to Moto2. If you win Moto2, you move to MotoGP. But if you won MotoE, you stayed in MotoE. That was probably the biggest limitation for riders. At the same time, we should remember that Fermín Aldeguer raced in MotoE in 2021 and is now in MotoGP. Back then, he was not even among the fastest riders in MotoE. Every category needs to be judged appropriately.

Still, I am happy because now I am in Supersport, I am performing well, and I am enjoying it.

In conclusion, Matteo, what’s your goal for the coming years?

Now that I am in the Supersport World Championship, my goal is to establish myself in the WorldSBK paddock, and I think it’s already an excellent target for my career. It’s clear though that this is my first year in the series, and right now I am focused on performing well here. If opportunities arise to continue in Supersport in the future, we will see.

What I know is that I want to race in a championship where I can be in the front, and have a team and a bike capable of fighting for great results. That matters more than the category itself. I would be pleased to race in Moto2 or World Superbike one day, but if moving up means finishing 15th or 20th, I would rather stay where I am.

Palmen in Motorradsport thanks Matteo Ferrari for his availability and Alice Santarini for organizing the interview. Best wishes to Matteo and the WRP Racing team for the upcoming races and seasons.