Pecco Bagnaia presents a gift on a visit to The Pope

Factory Ducati MotoGP rider Francesco Bagnaia was received by Pope Francis at the Vatican in honour of the 120th anniversary of the FIM.

Two-times MotoGP World Champion Bagnaia, who was beaten to the 2024 title by Jorge Martin, visited the Vatican in an event organised by the FIM and the FMI (the Italian Motorcycle Federation, whom gave Bagnaia his first Grand Prix ride in the 2013 Moto3 World Championship).

“A moment of great honour and emotion to be received by His Holiness Pope Francis,” an Instagram post from Bagnaia reads.

“Special thanks also to FMI and FIM for giving us this great opportunity.”

Bagnaia was joined in his Papal reception by his wife, Domizia, and presented Pope Francis with an edition of Gazzetta Dello Sport, the Italian sports daily, dedicated to Bagnaia and Ducati after Bagnaia won the 2022 MotoGP title, becoming the first Italian rider to win the title on an Italian bike in the four-stroke era of MotoGP.

The 2022 title was also the first riders’ triumph for Ducati since Casey Stoner won in 2007, and the Italian brand has gone on to win each title since, including for the first time in the MotoGP era with a satellite team — Pramac Racing — in 2024 thanks to Jorge Martin; and the Italian brand won all but four races in 2024, and all but one Grand Prix.

The other victories were mopped up by Ducati’s compatriot manufacturer, Aprilia, who won the Portuguese Sprint, Catalan Sprint, and both the Americas Sprint and Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas. 

It marked the first time that all races were won in MotoGP by manufacturers from one nation since Honda and Yamaha ensured a Japanese monopoly in 2015.