World Ducati Week 2022

June 17th, 2023 xBhp Features comments

World Ducati Week has always had a special place in my heart. Not only because it is one of the world’s largest motorcycling get-togethers and a heck of a spectacle at that, but because of my association with it as well. I have been in attendance at this spectacle several times, met my idol Valentino Rossi here, and have ridden with thousands of the most passionate motorcyclists at World Ducati Week. It was special this time as well, for more reasons than one.

The very first time I was a part of World Ducati Week was in 2012. I was invited by Ducati to attend the event but I decided to give it a little twist. I proposed that I ride to the event and not just ride to the event, but cover 10,000 km in the process! I rode from Dubai to Italy, covering 10 countries in between, before finally attending World Ducati Week 2012.

World Ducati Week 2012.

Those 10,000 km on a Ducati Multistrada were a few of the best I have ridden in my life. The motorcycle was fantastic, yes, but from the desert to the Alps, it was a heck of a journey. That journey added meaning to the name Multistrada for me- Many Roads. After riding such a distance, arriving at World Ducati Week was a matter of pride for me. And it was a heck of a welcome too. Literally thousands of Ducatis from Panigales to 918s to 999s to Monsters, and Streetfighters; thousands of Ducatis ridden by as many passionate Ducatisti was a sight to behold.

More than anything though, meeting the two Ducati Corse MotoGP riders was the true icing on the cake. I met both Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. Valentino Rossi had been my idol for a long long time and to have met him and to have been around him was fulfilling on a different plane altogether.

Meeting Valentino Rossi was a dream come true.

Then in 2014, I got the opportunity to ride to World Ducati Week again. This time around I was also in the Ducati World Travellers tent which, again, was a matter of immense pride for me. I had ridden Ducatis a lot up to that point but still, being bestowed with honour like that was still hard to believe for me. Then my next visit came in 2018 when I rode a BMW R NineT Racer to the event. It was a quirky thing to do but then again, that is what xBhp has been known for.

World Ducati Week 2018

Fast forward to 2022, and I find myself at one of the world’s most exquisite motorcycle gatherings again. World Ducati Week 2022. As mentioned earlier, this time was really, really special and for more reasons than one. The first one is the simplest and the most prominent- the pandemic. The pandemic was a horror show that most of us will never forget in our lives. So imagine that you get a chance to be a part of an event like World Ducati Week after having been stuck inside your home for so long… Hard to find a feeling like that anywhere.

The World Ducati Week 2022 was just that, and then some. Passionate Ducatisti poured in from all over the world to be a part of one of the greatest motorcycling spectacles in the world. Coming here is when you realize what Ducati has done, not only in terms of making and selling wonderful motorcycles but also in terms of bringing people together under the umbrella of motorcycling. They have united the passions of so many people to the extent that it almost feels like a cult.

Another reason that makes it so much more special was the fact that I also got myself a Ducati Streetfighter V4 S in 2022. So this time, I was attending as a proud Ducatista. Unfortunately, I was not able to ride to the event, as I would have liked, but I still got to witness this spectacle and tried to capture what I could.

In terms of the motorcycles, the DesertX was the centrepiece- Ducati’s dedicated rallying and off-roading weapon. Additionally, we had the latest and greatest from Audi and Lamborghini, as Ducati and Lamborghini are both owned by Audi. But the most amazing moment was the lap of honour. It has always been a sight to behold to see so many riders on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. This time was no different.

As the lap of honour began, there were thousands of Ducatis on the racetrack and all of them were being ridden at once. The sound, the sight, the sheer vibe of that place at that moment is something that you get to feel nowhere else. And this was it from me from the World Ducati Week 2022. So, signing off with hopes that the next time, I get to ride to this spectacle, perhaps as grandly as I did in 2012 with Mission Red Planet. I will try to make it happen but till then, ride safe.