A record 65,000 people attended the eighth World Ducati Week, the international, bi-annual Ducati gathering. Ducati reports that tens of thousands of motorcyclists filled the “Marco Simoncelli” Misano World Circuit from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 July in a “sign of loyalty, passion and love for Ducati and the legendary bikes built in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, Italy”.
This year’s turnout equalled the record set in 2012 when WDW was a four-day event.
Participants arrived from five continents and 56 different countries. Some Ducatisti had travelled from the USA, Europe, Australia, Russia and India.
The highlight was considered to be on Saturday 19 July, the day that drew in the biggest crowds, to watch the final showdown of the Diavel Drag Race. Ducati Corse riders (MotoGP and SBK) battled it out on the starting straight of the “Marco Simoncelli” Misano World Circuit on powerful Ducati Diavel Carbon bikes.
Victory was claimed by Regis Laconi (former official Ducati SBK rider), with Matteo Baiocco (current Ducati SBK test rider) the runner-up. Third place went to Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), fourth to Michele Pirro (test rider for Ducati Team in MotoGP). It was an exhilarating competition, placing pros of the highest calibre, past and present, head to head: Troy Bayliss, Carlos Checa, Andrea Iannone, Yonny Hernandez, Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies together with “King” Carl Fogarty and Pierfrancesco Chili.