Niccolo Canepa

Niccolo Canepa, Ducati's 2007 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup champion, impressed in his role as Ducati/Bridgestone test rider during 2008, often outpacing the factory's regular grand prix riders - with the notable exception of world champion Casey Stoner - to secure a grand prix ride with the Pramac team for 2009.

The 20-year-old also made a wild-card appearance at the Czech Republic round of the World Superbike championship, qualifying a third 1098F08 sixth on the grid, but finished just 13th in race one and retired from race two.

Canepa's 2009 MotoGP season was also to be a disappointment, the Mechanical Engineering student being unable to repeat his testing pace.

Canepa rarely made a mistake, finishing his first eleven races before a technical problem at Indianapolis, and claimed a best of eighth at a damp Donington Park.

However, pressure grew as he was consistently outpaced by team-mate and fellow rookie Mika Kallio and then stand-in Aleix Espargaro, who was ultimately handed Canepa’s seat for 2010.

Canepa’s first and possibly last MotoGP season came to an early end when he was injured during practice in Australia and he switched to the new Moto2 class for 2010.