Last Tuesday was a memorable night for the thousands of enthusiasts who gathered in pavilion 29 of the Bologna Fiere for the 2024 edition of «Campioni in Festa». An event that for three seasons has become a fixture of Ducati’s best sporting moment.
«Campioni in Festa»: A unique event
“Campioni in Festa” was born with the aim of sharing the passion for two wheels with all motorcycling lovers. An opportunity in which Ducati this year has seen 14 top-level drivers and more than 20 World Titles. The celebration event, free to the public, was preceded by an exclusive party only for Ducati employees, an opportunity to share and celebrate together a year of great results.
The public part of the show began with a concert by the Ducati Band, a musical group formed more than 20 years ago in the company at the initiative of some employees, including the current Technical Director of Ducati Corse, Davide Barana, in the role of guitarist, who warmed up the atmosphere with a performance full of rock & roll energy. Next, the Italian comedian Paolo Cevoli provided moments of lightheartedness and laughter with his show, engaging the audience with his unmistakable style.
The evening was hosted by Bárbara Pedrotti, who dictated the pace of the show, calling all the protagonists of the 2024 season to the stage, obviously starting with the CEO of Ducati, Claudio Domenicali. During his speech, he once again underlined the effectiveness of the “Ducati System”, a special way of doing things characteristic of the Bologna company, which has proven its success both in racing and in series production.
The first “Campioni in Festa” to take the stage was Alessandro Lupino, winner of the Italian MX1 title at the handlebars of the Desmo450 MX prototype, which debuted this season, starting Ducati’s new chapter in Motocross. Lupino was joined on stage by nine-time MX World Champion Tony Cairoli, Ducati Corse Off-Road Technical Director Davide Perni and Ducati Corse Off-Road Managing Director Paolo Ciabatti.
Ciabatti’s speech represented the moment of transition between satisfaction with the results obtained in the first season and looking towards the future and the challenges of the 2025 MX World Championship, which will also be faced thanks to the talent of the new riders Jeremy Seewer and Mattia Guadagnini, presented to the Ducati family on this occasion.
Attention then focused on Ducati’s successes in the World Championships for production motorcycles: WorldSBK and WorldSSP. On stage were Marco Zambenedetti, Head of SBK Project Management, Daniele Casolari (Team Owner Aruba.it Racing Ducati), Serafino Foti (Team Manager Aruba.it Racing Ducati) and, above all, the riders Álvaro Bautista, Nicolò Bulega and Adrián Orchards.
Bulega and Bautista, who finished second and third respectively in the WorldSBK general classification, were cheered by the public, as well as the new WorldSSP Champion Huertas, who had the opportunity to thank everyone for the support received throughout the season to reach the ultimate goal of victory.
The space dedicated to MotoGP opened with an invitation to the stage for Nadia Padovani (Team Principal Gresini Racing), Alessio Salucci (Team Principal VR46 Racing Team), and the riders Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Michele Pirro (Ducati Official Test Rider) . Immediately afterwards, the top managers of Ducati Corse Mauro Grassilli, Davide Barana and Davide Tardozzi met in front of the public, with Bárbara Pedrotti.
They invited the General Director of Ducati Corse, Luigi Dall’Igna, to join them for a speech that included an emotional mutual gratitude with Paolo Campinoti, Team Principal of Pramac Racing, with whom a twenty-year working relationship will end at the end of the year. years. This has been culminated in the victory of the 2023 World Team Title and the 2024 World Drivers Title.
Finally, the highlight of the show came with the “Fantastic Four” Ducati riders, dominators of the MotoGP World Championship with 19 victories out of a total of 20 races, which ignited the enthusiasm of the public.
The current World Champion Jorge Martín, the Italian idol Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia, Marc Márquez and Enea Bastianini took the stage, exchanging questions and points of view among themselves, and receiving the warm tribute of the public for a season in which they led the Desmosedici GP at an unimaginable level.
The 2024 edition of “Campioni in Festa” once again celebrated the excellence and spirit of Ducati, confirming itself as an unmissable event for all motorsport enthusiasts. Also participating in the celebration was LEGO, with whom Ducati recently presented the new Lego Technic Panigale V4 S set. For the occasion, LEGO exhibited a 1:2 scale model of the Panigale V4 S made entirely of pieces, unveiled shortly before the show by the “Fantastic Four.”
In addition, all participants in the party were able to contribute to the creation of a shared work, reconstructing the logo of the Borgo Panigale company with LEGO pieces. The “Campioni in Festa” event was organized by Ducati with the support of the Bologna City Council and the collaboration of Motor Valley and BolognaFiere.
