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50 years have passed since the last world title won by an Italian rider on an Italian motorcycle. It was 1972 and it was, obviously, Giacomo Agostini riding his MV Agusta.
It fell to Francesco Bagnaia and Ducati to revive those glories with the conquest of the world title with Gigi Dall'Igna's Desmosedici.
For the moment, the two couples are not comparable: Ago has 15 world titles to his credit, Pecco only two, while on the riding side, MV Agusta won its first world championship in 1952 with Cecil Sandford in the 125 cc class. Having started its dominance in all classes, MV won the 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc titles simultaneously in 1958, 1959 and 1960. The Italian manufacturer captured all the riders' championships in the 500cc class between 1958 and 1974.
It retired from Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1976 season, having won 270 motorcycle Grands Prix, 38 World Rider Championships and 37 World Manufacturer Championships with legendary riders such as Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Carlo Ubbiali, Gary Hocking and John Surtees.
Ducati certainly looks good, but it's still young and while it won the TT-1 title in 1978 thanks to Mike Hailwood's return to competition on the Isle of Man, it can also boast 15 World Superbike championships with Raymond Roche (1) , Doug Polen (2), Carl Fogarty (4), Troy Corser (1), Troy Bayliss (3), Neil Hodgson (1), James Toseland (1), Carlos Checa (1) and Alvaro Bautista (1). But also in Supersport (1997, Paolo Casoli) and 6 times in Superstock with Canepa, Brendan Roberts, Simeon, Giugliano, Mercado and Rinaldi.
Ducati had been missing the world title in the premier class of motorcycling since 2007, when Casey Stoner won on his debut as a factory rider, in his second season in MotoGP.
At the ripe old age of 80, Giacomo Agostini is still riding, and quite strong, but the rain prevented a comparison at Misano which in terms of performance would have been impossible: about 100 hp against almost 300! However, just seeing the two red bikes next to each other has great significance from a historical, sporting and emotional point of view.
So let's be content with these shots by the great photographer Gigi Soldano portraying the two Champions in the pits. As they wait for an improvement in the weather.
Who knows what Mino would say about the GP22 and what Pecco would say about the legendary MV. Maybe we will know soon.
