MotoGP | Domenicali and Ducati’s 100 victories: “More and more indelible in history”

The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix held this afternoon at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is destined to remain in the history of motorcycling. Thanks to the victory of Enea Bastianini with the Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Lenovo Team, Ducati has obtained its 100th victory in MotoGP: an important milestone for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer achieved in a unique context, that of the home race on the track located in the heart of the Motor Valley, a few kilometers from the Bologna headquarters.

Ducati thus joins a very small elite of manufacturers capable of reaching 100 wins in MotoGP, which includes only two other companies. Ducati is also the first European manufacturer to achieve this result. Bastianini’s success also allowed Ducati to achieve the sixth Manufacturers’ World Title in its history, with 6 Grands Prix still to go until the end of the 2024 season. For the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer, this is the fifth consecutive Manufacturers’ Title since 2020.

It was in 2020 that Ducati celebrated its first important milestone of 50 MotoGP victories thanks to the victory achieved by Andrea Dovizioso (14 victories in total) on the Spielberg circuit in Austria. Up until that point, in addition to him, 6 other riders had managed to bring the Red from Borgo Panigale to success. The first was obviously Loris Capirossi (author of 7 overall victories with Ducati) at Montmelò in 2003, the year of Ducati’s debut in MotoGP. This was followed by the incredible victories of Casey Stoner (23), the first World Champion with the Desmosedici in 2007; Troy Bayliss (1), who fresh from the Superbike world title took part in the Valencian Community GP in 2006 as a replacement for the injured Gibernau and won the race; Andrea Iannone (1), Jorge Lorenzo (3) and Danilo Petrucci (2).

In the space of four years, Ducati has established itself as the benchmark in the racing world and has managed to demonstrate this technical superiority by taking another 50 wins and at the same time returning to win the Riders’ World Title after 15 years. Francesco Bagnaia, two-time World Champion with Ducati in 2022 and 2023, is currently the most successful rider with the Desmosedici GP, having scored 25 of the 100 wins obtained so far by the Red in the premier class. For today’s winner Enea Bastianini, the one obtained in Misano was the seventh MotoGP victory on a Ducati. In 2021, Jack Miller (3) obtained the first success with the Desmosedici GP in Spain, which was followed by two more victories.

The same year also saw the first victory for a Ducati satellite team rider, Jorge Martín with the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing team. The current leader of the World Championship and last year’s runner-up, currently has 7 wins with Ducati. Marco Bezzecchi, a rider of the VR46 Racing Team, has instead obtained 3 wins with the Desmosedici GP, while one is the success that bears the name of his teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio. Johann Zarco also contributed with a victory in 2023 in Australia, while Marc Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) has two wins, including the most recent one obtained in Misano two weeks ago in the GP of San Marino and the Riviera di Rimini.

“The milestone of 100 MotoGP victories and the conquest of the Constructors’ World Title make us proud and write the name of Ducati even more indelibly in the history of the world’s greatest motorcycle competition. These moments are an opportunity to look back and give due weight to every single effort, to the hard work and to years of commitment and continuous innovation”, said CEO Claudio Domenicali.

“These are the values ​​that have characterized our participation in the MotoGP World Championship since 2003 and the perseverance and dedication with which we have applied them have led us to be the reference point of the Championship today, through a working method that also includes a continuous exchange with the world of production motorcycles, as demonstrated by the new Panigale V4, the seventh generation of Ducati supersports recently presented right here in Misano. We celebrated 50 victories in 2020, and the subsequent 50 have arrived over the last 4 years in an extraordinary crescendo of successes”, he added.

“The 100 victories in MotoGP and the fifth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship are the crowning achievement of our best sporting moment ever. A heartfelt thanks to all the riders, colleagues, engineers, technicians, our partners and sponsors, collaborators, Ducatisti and all the people who in these years have worked hard with passion and determination to bring Ducati to the top step of the podium”, he concluded.

Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna also expressed his satisfaction: “Only four years have passed since we celebrated the first historic milestone of 50 victories in MotoGP and in such a short time we have managed to add the same number of successes and reach 100. Before us, only two other manufacturers had achieved it and we are the first Europeans to do so. It is certainly an important result, which fills us with immense pride”.

“We owe all this to 15 fantastic riders, who have written important pages of history with us over the years. Today, we also conquer our sixth constructors’ title in MotoGP, the fifth consecutive. In addition to the riders and teams, this is the victory of all the boys and girls of Ducati Corse, many of whom are involved behind the scenes, who with their tireless work, their passion and dedication, have allowed us to grow and become what we are. So, a heartfelt thanks to all of them and a special thanks also to all our fans, the Ducatisti, who with their support push us every day to reach ever greater goals”, he concluded.