Bologna and Piazza Maggiore turn red to celebrate Ducati’s perfect season: Bagnaia and Bautista "Campioni in Piazza²"

The streets of Bologna and his central square, Piazza Maggiore, were coloured in Ducati Red for the celebrations of an unforgettable 2022 racing year, which saw the Ducati Corse heroes conquer the Riders’, Constructors’ and Teams titles in the same season in both major motorcycle world championships: MotoGP and WorldSBK. An unprecedented triumph for the Borgo Panigale motorcycle manufacturer, which in this way wished to share this incredible joy with the Ducatisti and with the territory in which the company has always had its roots.

Francesco Bagnaia and Álvaro Bautista were obviously the stars of the evening. From the stage in Piazza Maggiore, the World Champions received a tidal wave of affection from Ducatisti enthusiasts from all over the world, who could not fail to miss this historic moment of celebration, despite the rain and the cold temperatures. The city of Bologna, the Emilia-Romagna region and all of Italy celebrated together with Ducati the successes of a company that draws strength every day from its history, well rooted in Borgo Panigale, and at the same time is honoured to be ambassador of "Made in Italy" all over the world.

The celebratory event got underway at around 8.00 pm CET on Thursday 15 December with a DJ-set by Fresco, a DJ and record producer known for his collaborations with Italian singer Jovanotti, interspersed with the irresistible comedy of Giuseppe Giacobazzi from Romagna, entertaining fans of all ages who had flocked to Piazza Maggiore.

The key part of the evening started to the sound of Federico Poggipollini’s guitar and the off-screen voice of the most famous italian voice actor Luca Ward, who during the event became the protagonist of one of the most exciting passages, reciting a text in which the fundamental stages of the history of the Bologna-based manufacturer in the world of racing competition were retraced.

The presentation of "Campioni in Piazza²" was entrusted to the journalist and great motorsport enthusiast Barbara Pedrotti, who began a round of interviews by inviting the Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali and the representatives of the territorial institutions, the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini and the Mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore, onto the stage. Both figures underlined the importance of an event like this for the city and the added value offered by the collaboration with Ducati with a view to synergy with the entire Emilia-Romagna Motor Valley.

The Ducati event continued with a speech by Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi Dall’Igna, who retraced the decisive moments of the season. From the stage, the audience was also greeted by all the other faces who best represent the successes of the Bologna-based manufacturer and who enthusiasts have now learned to recognize in the footage from the pits of circuits: Ducati Corse Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Technical Director Davide Barana, MotoGP Team Manager Davide Tardozzi, Team Principal Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Stefano Cecconi and WorldSBK Team Manager Serafino Foti. 

The climax of the evening came when the voice of MotoGP on Italian TV Guido Meda called the two most awaited names on stage: the 2022 WorldSBK World Champion Álvaro Bautista and the 2022 MotoGP World Champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia, who were welcomed with great enthusiasm by the public in Piazza Maggiore. The celebration of the successes of Bagnaia and Bautista was shared with the other Ducati riders present at the event: Axel Bassani, Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi, Chaz Davies, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Luca Marini, Michele Pirro and Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

On stage, to celebrate the shared passion for sport and to pay their respects to the Ducati Champions, were also representatives of local and national sporting realities Lorenzo De Silvestri (Bologna Calcio football player), Pietro Aradori (Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna player) and Sabrina Cinili (captain of the Virtus Bologna women’s basketball team), together with the coach of the Italian national cycling team Daniele Bennati.

During the "Campioni in Piazza²" event, a big surprise was also unveiled for all the most passionate Ducatisti. To pay homage to the world titles of Bagnaia and Bautista, Ducati has in fact created two special series of Panigale V4 in limited and numbered editions, with liveries inspired respectively by the Desmosedici GP22 and the Panigale V4 R of the World Champions and with dedicated components.

These collector’s bikes are characterized by having the liveries of Pecco Bagnaia #63 and Álvaro Bautista #19 and each bike is made unique by having the original signature of the rider on the fuel tank, protected with a layer of transparent varnish. In their production numbers, the two bikes celebrate the year Ducati was founded, 1926. Each series will in fact consist of only 260 units.

Panigale V4 Bagnaia 2022 World Champion Replica and Panigale V4 Bautista 2022 World Champion Replica were displayed to the public in Piazza del Nettuno, flanked by the Desmosedici GP22 and the Panigale V4 R World Champion bikes and a Lamborghini Huracán STO, specially created for the occasion in Ducati Corse colours.

During the press conference that preceded the event, the documentary "Nuvola Rossa: Bagnaia & Ducati’s Perfect Comb1nation[/b" was also presented, a short film that illustrates the most significant and exciting moments of the last three races of the MotoGP championship. The 20-minute documentary will be published on Ducati’s official YouTube channel and on Ducati.com on 16 December at 12.00.

The press conference was also an opportunity to officially announce the dates for the presentation of the two official Ducati teams in MotoGP and WorldSBK for the 2023 season. "[b]Campioni in Pista” (Champions on the Ski Track) will be held from 22nd to 24th January next in the exceptional location of Madonna di Campiglio; during this event, organized in collaboration with Trentino Marketing and Madonna di Campiglio Tourist Board, Ducati will present the Ducati Lenovo Team and the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team together for the first time.

The Press Kit with more pictures of the event and all the details of the Panigale V4 2022 World Champion Replica are available at Ducati Media House.

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