MotoGP Communications

The pre-event at the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini will be a particularly special one, as five MotoGP™ riders will meet Pope Francis in the Vatican City on Wednesday - an event organised with the contribution from the Italian Motorcycling Federation. 

Reigning World Champion and current overall standings leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will be joined by teammate Dani Pedrosa, Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing), his teammate Jack Miller and Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone, with Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and Paulo Simoncelli also in attendance.

Giovanni Copioli, President of the FMI, will be accompanying the MotoGP™ delegation. With him, Giovanni Malagò, CONI President, and Carlo Mornati, CONI General Secretary, both are institutional representatives who worked to make this historic meeting possible. During the pre-event, each rider will give Pope Francis one of their race helmets as a gift.