With the start of the 2011 MotoGP season mere days away, Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati organised a unique event at Bologna as a send-off for the Ducati MotoGP Team and factory riders, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. Held at Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore, the 'Ducati MotoGP' night was attended by 38,000 Ducatisti.
The Ducati MotoGP Night event came at the end of an action-packed day that included a visit to the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale, Bologna during which Rossi and Hayden toured the production lines and met the workers.
Over the event, Ducati President and CEO, Gabriele Del Torchio also took the opportunity to announce that an agreement had been signed to start work on a brand new factory in Borgo Panigale, Bologna.The new Ducati factory will be 134,600 square metres, 15% larger than the current site. An additional 11,000 metres of potential future expansion has also been factored in.
Following the announcement and introductions of Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali and the rest of the team, the massive crowd got charged up on seeing Rossi and Hayden riding their Ducati Desmosedici GP11s onto stage.