A weeklong celebration marking the 100th anniversary of motorcycle giant Ducati was held recently, and The GAME’s motorsports contributor was there to soak in all the hoopla.
MISANO, ITALY – One hundred years ago in Bologna, three brothers started a company called Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati. Back then, they were building radio vacuum tubes, not superbikes. It’s wild to think about how a company goes from manufacturing electronics to building some of the most visceral, lusted-after racing machinery on the planet, but the thread connecting it all has always been a total obsession with engineering and going fast.
That brings us to World Ducati Week 2026. This wasn’t just another weekend for the Ducatisti to get together and talk shop; it was the official 100th anniversary party. More than 118,000 fans from 94 different countries descended on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, completely painting the grandstands red.
If you’re trying to explain WDW to someone who doesn’t ride, the best comparison is actually NBA All-Star Weekend. All the daytime madness, the stunt shows, the heritage displays, the massive parades, and the demo rides, that’s your Slam Dunk Contest, Skills Challenge, and Three-Point Shootout. It’s pure fan service and entertainment. But everyone there is really waiting for the main event: The Lenovo Race of Champions.
Think of it as the All-Star Game itself, but with a massive twist. Instead of basketball players half-assing it for the cameras, you take the absolute best motorcycle racers in the world, put them on identical Panigale V4 sportbikes, and let them settle who’s actually fastest when the equipment is equal.
Nowhere else do you get MotoGP gods, World Superbike veterans, and national champions trading paint on the exact same grid. It’s supposedly an exhibition, but the second the visors go down and the lights go out, ego takes over. Nobody wants to lose.
This year’s race carried a lot of extra weight, too. It was two-time MotoGP champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia’s final appearance in the Race of Champions before he starts the next chapter of his career, marking the end of an era for one of WDW’s biggest draws.
On paper, the smart money is always on the MotoGP guys. They’re the F1 drivers of two wheels, operating at the absolute pinnacle of the sport. But racing doesn’t happen on paper. To everyone’s shock, the WorldSBK riders absolutely weaponized the weekend, as if they had something to prove.
Nicolò Bulega took pole position and turned it into a masterclass, pulling away for a dominant win. Alberto Surra locked down second, and Lorenzo Baldassarri rounded out an all-SBK podium in third. Meanwhile, MotoGP heavyweights like Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio (who is currently leading the MotoGP championship) and Franco Morbidelli spent the whole ten laps playing catch-up. It was easily the biggest talking point of the weekend.
If you want to be logical about it, there could be a reason for the upset. MotoGP bikes are purpose-built prototypes, the closest thing motorcycle racing has to Formula 1 cars. The Panigale V4s used in this race, while heavily prepped, are production-based track weapons. They share a massive amount of DNA with the actual WorldSBK bikes that Bulega, Álvaro Bautista, Andrea Iannone, and Danilo Petrucci ride every single weekend.
That familiarity gave them an immediate edge in finding the limit. But honestly? Don’t let that take anything away from Bulega. He lined up against one of the most stacked grids ever assembled and completely controlled it from lights to flag. Afterward, he was buzzing, calling it a “fantastic weekend,” praising the Panigale, and joking about how great it felt to finally beat Marc Márquez in a straight fight.
That grit is exactly why people love the Race of Champions. The weekend is technically a party, but for ten frantic laps, nobody is celebrating. They’re trying to rip each other’s mirrors off for bragging rights.
The nostalgia factor in the paddock was just as heavy. You couldn’t walk through the hospitality suites without bumping into the legends who literally built the brand’s reputation: Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi, and Troy Corser. It was one of those surreal moments where the past and the present of the sport just hung out together, drinking espresso and sharing the same stage. The last time I felt this was the last NBA All-Star Weekend I attended, in Toronto.
Watching the sun go down over Misano, you realized this weekend wasn’t just a look back at a century in the history books. It was a reminder of why people form such an unhealthy, fanatical devotion to this specific Italian brand. The bikes will get faster, champions will retire, and new kids will come along to break records. But the crazy passion that started in a tiny Bologna workshop a hundred years ago hasn’t faded a bit. If the first century was about surviving and building a legend, World Ducati Week 2026 proved the next hundred years are going to be loud as hell.
Images from Ducati
Frequently Asked Questions
World Ducati Week is Ducati’s biennial fan festival held at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy. It combines heritage displays, demo rides, and stunt shows with its marquee event, the Lenovo Race of Champions, drawing riders and fans from across the world.
WorldSBK rider Nicolò Bulega won the 2026 Lenovo Race of Champions, taking pole and controlling the race from start to finish. Alberto Surra and Lorenzo Baldassarri completed an all-WorldSBK podium, ahead of several MotoGP stars.
WorldSBK riders raced on Panigale V4s that share close mechanical DNA with their own production-based race bikes, giving them a familiarity edge over MotoGP riders used to prototype machinery. This familiarity helped them find the bike’s limit faster.
Ducati marked its 100th anniversary in 2026, tracing back to its 1926 founding in Bologna, Italy, as Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, a maker of radio components before it moved into motorcycle manufacturing.
Yes, World Ducati Week 2026 marked two-time MotoGP champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia’s final appearance in the Race of Champions before he moves into the next phase of his racing career.
Related Stories
