Rome-born Michel Fabrizio, aged 24, continues with the Ducati Xerox Team for a second consecutive season in 2009 and looks to improve on his eighth place result in the 2008 Superbike championship standings.

Michel began racing seriously in 1999 at the age of 15, when he took part in the Honda Trophy events and was almost immediately on the podium after just two races. The next couple of years saw Michel emerge with a series of wins and titles in the Coppa Italia (2000) and Challenge Aprilia, Supercampione and Sport Production categories (2001).

In 2002 Michel arrived on the world scene when he was given a ride on a Gilera in the 125 GP championship but results were disappointing and he was only able to score a handful of points. Team Alstare Suzuki Italia then offered the young Italian rider the chance to race in the European Superstock category in 2003 and he immediately found his feet, repaying the faith shown in him by taking the title at the age of 19, winning four of the season’s nine rounds. In 2004 Michel moved back to the World Road-Racing Championship, but this time on a WCM machine in the MotoGP class. The year was unfortunately not an easy one for Michel who finished in twenty-second position. Hopeful of greater success in the World Supersport championship, Michel signed with Team Italia Megabike for 2005 and rode his Honda to the podium on five occasions, including second place finishes at Brno and Brands Hatch. He closed the season in fifth position overall.

This was followed in 2006 by a move up to the World Superbike category where Michel rode the Honda CBR 1000RR as part of the DFX Corse team, where he then remained for the 2007 season, finishing both seasons in eleventh position. In 2006 he stepped up to the podium at Assen (third place) and Brno (second and third place), the Brno results all the more impressive bearing in mind that Michel was racing with a broken collarbone, and in 2007 he returned to the Brno podium, with a third place finish, his only top three finish that season.

In 2008, his debut season with the Ducati Xerox Team, Michel was on board a Ducati - the 1098 F08 - for the first time and got off to a good start, scoring his first podium place at Phillip Island, Round 2. In what was his best World Superbike season yet, Michel was regularly one of the front-runners and achieved seven podium finishes, including a second place in front of his home crowd at Vallelunga, another at the new Portimao track and a second and third place at Brno, the track at which he has had the most success over recent years. He concluded the championship in eighth position and will ride for the Ducati Xerox factory squad once again in 2009, confident that it will be his best year yet!