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posted July 02, 2007 09:18 AM
World Ducati Week 2007 Wraps up in Misano, Italy with over 50,000 Ducatisti in Attend
 Mix 50,000 Italian bike fanatics with a week of entertainment and partying in Misano, Italy and what do you get? World Ducati Week! WDW 2007 wraps up with a record year - here's what Ducati tell us about their successful event....
More than 50 thousand Ducatisti gathered at Misano for four days in the name of passion for the "Reds" of Borgo Panigale.
The fifth year of the World Ducati Week, the international gathering of the Ducati community, has come to a close after setting record numbers. A success from every point of view that involved, entertained and provided excitement for tens of thousands of bikers that came from all four corners of the earth to the Misano World Circuit from Thursday, June 28th to Sunday, July 1st to celebrate the great "Red Planet of Ducati".
This is a passion that brings unimaginable numbers. There were more than 50,000 estimated presences over the four days; 25,000 tickets sold; more than 200 Ducati riders; and participants from 28 nations around the world that did not want to miss this amazing event organized by Ducati for its fans.
These four intense days peaked on Saturday, June 30th, the day that witnessed the largest gathering of Ducatisti. It was a peaceful, yet colourful, descent not only onto the renovated Misano Adriatico circuit, but also the entire seaside where the Desmodromic rumble of Ducatis could be heard from the line of bikes heading towards this great congregation of bikers.
There were many activities, events, opportunities for participants to ride on the track, courses for driving and mechanics (held at the "Ducati University" and led by real engineers, riders and managers from the Borgo Panigale company), great concerts (with international artists like Patti Smith who lit up the WDW stage on Saturday night), spectacular shows by the Frecce Tricolori, the most modern air acrobatics of the Mangusta helicopters, numerous charity initiatives (an auction and laps on the track on the Desmosedici "two-seater" driven by Randy Mamola to benefit the humanitarian organization Riders for Health) and still many other ways to experience all of the exciting happenings.
No one could miss the WDW 2007...including all of the Ducati riders that race in Superstock, Superbike and MotoGP with the "Reds of Borgo Panigale" like Niccolò Canepa, Brendan Roberts, Domenico Colucci, Letizia Marchetti, Nina Prinz, Romana Fede, Paola Artioli, Ruben Xaus, Marco Borciani, Lorenzo Lanzi, Troy Bayliss, Vittoriano Guareschi, Loris Capirossi and the rider leading the MotoGP, Casey Stoner. All the riders took the stage on Saturday evening (complete with the GP riders that arrived from Assen on a special flight) to experience the enthusiasm on the part of thousands of fans in a great party atmosphere.
Besides the record number of presences and bikes that took over the Adriatic seaside, the world previews of the 1098 F08 and the Desmosedici RR were what made this year's WDW go down in history. During the event on Saturday, the new Ducati 1098 F08 with a 1200 cc engine that will race in the next Superbike World Championship was unveiled and ridden by Troy Bayliss. Also on Saturday afternoon, the new, spectacular Desmosedici RR, the road replica of the one used in the MotoGP, was ridden by MotoGP tester Vittoriano Guareschi in front of the WDW public.
"It was a fantastic experience, my first WDW, but also the proof of the high level of enthusiasm that characterizes this brand name and is associated with the great Ducatisti family," said Gabrielle Del Torchio, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding, at the end of the event. "I was imagining something great, but what I saw and lived in person was above all of my expectations. An extraordinary passion that confirms the sense of belonging that most likely, only Ducati generates."
Here are the numbers that made this year's WDW go down in history:
- 54,000 pictures taken by staff photographers
- 15,000 piadinas eaten in four days
- 3,600 litres of beer and 4,200 litres of vine drunk
- 1.2 tons of sausage eaten
- 31,000,000 kilometres covered by Ducatisti (80 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon) to reach Misano from every part of the world
But far from the Misano circuit, far from the rumble of Ducati engines, another WDW took place: a virtual version. In fact, while a part of the world enjoyed the world gathering inside the circuit, another part was connected through the official website, www.ducati.com. During the span of the event, the site received 500,000 visits. Another great record!
Source: Bikeland.org & Ducati
   
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