For its home Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy, Ducati has swapped the track for a time machine – speeding headlong into the past with a special livery inspired by the Italian Renaissance. It’s a tribute not just to art and heritage, but to a deeper cultural code: that uniquely Italian fusion of beauty and ingenuity.
The result is a striking collaboration between motorcycle designer Aldo Drudi and historian Marcello Simonetta. Together, they’ve transformed Ducati Lenovo Team riders Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez into modern-day knights, their Desmosedici GP machines reimagined as two-wheeled steeds.
The new livery draws directly from Renaissance iconography – most notably Leonardo da Vinci’s “Ancient Captain” – and reframes it for a modern battlefield. The inclined head of Da Vinci’s leader is now poised for launch; his armour reinterpreted in sleek fairings and race suits.
This year’s Mugello concept follows 2024’s Azzurro, which paid homage to the iconic colour of Italy’s national teams. But the Renaissance theme goes deeper. It’s a story of human ambition – of Florence as a cradle of innovation, where science, art and philosophy collided in a creative supernova. That same spirit lives in Ducati’s DNA: a brand where form and function are not in competition, but co-conspirators.
On track, Bagnaia and Márquez wear the symbols of power and guile – a lion and a fox – referencing Machiavelli’s The Prince. Strength and cunning, after all, are a rider’s most valuable assets. Off track, the visuals come to life in a short film shot in Florence’s Stibbert Museum and the hallowed Piazza della Signoria. Clad in gear inspired by classical armour, the riders stride among statues, not as tourists, but as heirs.
It’s a spectacle, yes – but also a statement. Ducati’s Renaissance project reminds us that beauty and brilliance are not mutually exclusive. When engineering meets artistry, when the past fuels the present, something extraordinary happens.
See more at ducati.com
