The celebrations of the MotoGP World Championship title victory continue with a highly prestigious appointment. Two days after the CONI Collare d’Oro awards ceremony the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, today received Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Corse team at the Quirinale.

The meeting was also attended by Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse General Manager, Luigi Dall'Igna, Ducati Corse Sporting Director, Paolo Ciabatti, CONI President, Giovanni Malagò, FMI President, Giovanni Copioli, the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi and the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Stefano Bonaccini.

The invitation from the President of the Republic, which arrived on the very day of the victory, is a source of great pride for Ducati as well as confirmation of how historic the goal achieved is for both the company and all Italy.

The title clinched by Bagnaia on a Ducati is the expression of the perfect all-Italian union between the talent and passion of the rider with the skills and technology that Ducati Corse engineers have been able to transfer onto the Desmosedici GP22.

Francesco Bagnaia, 2022 MotoGP World Champion and official Ducati Lenovo Team rider: “I would like to thank the President of the Republic for wishing to receive us at the Quirinale, which for us is a real honour. This year we were able to achieve an extraordinary result; one we are very proud of: we won the MotoGP World Championship with an Italian rider on an Italian bike, 50 years after Giacomo Agostini’s last win in MotoGP on an MV Agusta. This result is the outcome of many years of hard work, both by myself and the entire team. Together we have managed to improve our bike to the point of making it the benchmark in the championship and we should be proud of that. After crossing the finish line in Valencia a fortnight ago, I finished the final metres proudly bearing our flag, aware that I had shown the whole world that the talent and ingenuity of us Italians is second to none”.

The President of the Italian Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò: “Some people might have thought that the season had run its course, and I had said that we still had a few cards left to play. Pinning hopes on an achievement and producing an extraordinary comeback meant that a rider was able to follow in the footsteps of Giacomo Agostini 50 years later. That rider is Francesco Bagnaia. The President of the Republic has, as usual, been extraordinarily praiseworthy and touching towards the world of sport,” added Malagò “He said that as long as these victories and results keep coming, the Quirinale will always be happy to welcome them and to celebrate those who make our country great, in this case all-Italian motorbikes, teams and riders, not only in MotoGp but also in Superbike. This, in my opinion, is the best kind of push to help bring further victories and a return to the Quirinale. Today is a day of celebration for the entire system”.

Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO: “It is a real honour to be received today at the Quirinale by the President of the Republic, whom I would like to thank sincerely for the invitation. Ducati is a global company with strong roots in our country, specifically in Emilia-Romagna’s Motor Valley where our motorbikes are conceived, designed and developed. As a demonstration of the high level reached in Italian higher education and the technological expertise of our country, most Ducati engineers come from Italian universities. We are proud ambassadors of Made in Italy and we honour this responsibility every day by placing a little tricolour on every Ducati motorcycle sold around the world. Being here today makes us realise how much this success is not just Ducati’s, but belongs to the whole of Italy. Together with Francesco Bagnaia we have gained much more than a victory, we have written a page in motorsport history and have demonstrated how Italian skills and technology are a world excellence. Thanks to the FMI and CONI for organising this truly exciting day”.

Giovanni Copioli, FMI President: “I wish to thank the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, for the sensitivity and great attention he has never failed to pay to the world of sport and motorcycling. Less than a year after our visit to the Quirinale for the celebration of the careers of Valentino Rossi and Antonio Cairoli, we were once again received by the highest office of the state to honour the MotoGP World Champion title won by Francesco Bagnaia and Ducati, a manufacturer to whom all my compliments go, especially to such persons as Claudio Domenicali, Luigi Dall'Igna, Paolo Ciabatti and Davide Tardozzi. 50 years on from Giacomo Agostini’s triumph on his MV Agusta, an Italian rider has once again won the World Championship on an Italian bike. An extraordinary result, the fruit of teamwork and the rider’s huge talent.  But talent alone is not enough: Pecco has shown professionalism, intelligence and a spirit of sacrifice, determination, patience, but above all courage. His story is a model for all youngsters who want to approach our sport and, in this regard, I can only express great satisfaction, because the objective of a sports federation is specifically to allow its young athletes to express their abilities at the highest level”.

The Riders' Title won by Bagnaia is added to the Constructors' Title and the Teams' Title for the Ducati Lenovo Team already won by Ducati during the championship, establishing a hat-trick of world titles that saw Ducati dominate the category.