Mugello, Italy
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It is a sultry Friday evening in excessive summer season on a rolling, cypress tree-lined hillside close to the little city of Scarperia e San Piero, in the center of Italy’s Tuscany area. A bearded man in purple fishnet tights and an identical vinyl minidress sways with a beer can in one hand and a smile on his face.
Behind him, beside a rainbow-colored paddling pool, one other man in a tank high and shorts wields one thing that appears like a chainsaw crossed with a trumpet, which he revs and waves round.
Around them, disco lights spill out from beneath a motorhome, piercing the haze from flares and exhaust fumes. A procession of individuals glides by, some on foot, others using bikes of each form and dimension. Music booms out into the evening air, mixing with the incessant roar of engines.
You may very well be forgiven for pondering you’d wandered into an avant-garde music pageant or the set of a “Mad Max” sequel. But that is Mugello, residence to the Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix — and one of the largest parties in motorsport.
Formula 1 has Monaco, with its ostentation and air of exclusivity. Mugello, in maybe Italy’s most idyllic area, presents one thing no much less iconic, however altogether extra visceral – and arguably, much more enjoyable.
“They say al Mugello non si dorme, at Mugello you don’t sleep,” says Davide Tardozzi, Ducati’s MotoGP supervisor, grinning. “It’s true… Because there are crowds and fans that are enjoying the night – a long night.”
Justin Marks, proprietor of each the Trackhouse MotoGP and NASCAR groups, likens it to the Daytona 500. “I don’t think there’s a cooler race in the world than the Daytona 500,” he advised NCS in Austin this yr. “When you go to the Daytona 500 and there’s 200,000 people on the ground, and it’s this great American motorsport event, it’s really special; but when I went to the Italian grand prix at Mugello and the hills of Tuscany, and the fans, it had that same special sort of feel to it.”
The attraction begins with the placement. North from Florence, the roads twist by way of rolling hills and historical villages, previous rippling streams and the dappled shade from oak timber. Forty-five minutes later, the racetrack seems virtually with out warning — coiled like a basking viper in the Tuscan countryside.
Owned by Ferrari, Mugello Circuit serves as a testing floor for the Italian producer’s F1 automobiles. A shiny purple helmet-shaped sales space, adorned with the corporate’s well-known prancing horse emblem, stands on the major entrance. The monitor’s curves are painted in the inexperienced, white and purple of the Italian flag, grandstands are embedded into the panorama and campsites sprawl into the space.
“Mugello is pure passion,” says Fabio Di Giannantonio, one of two Italian riders for the VR46 Ducati staff. “For sure, it’s our home race here in Italy, where family, friends, fans come to see the race; we see this unbelievable place transforming day by day with all the fans coming. It’s like a stadium, with all the hills around the track, and it’s just an unbelievable place to (experience).”
Crowds start gathering earlier than race weekend, as MotoGP’s multimillion-dollar touring circus rolls into city.
Among the arrivals is Paolo Campinoti, principal of the Prima Pramac staff, with whom world champion Jorge Martín clinched the premier-class title in 2024.
Passion, shade and power
“Everything is special about Mugello,” Campinoti tells NCS. “I actually get here by Vespa from my house in Florence, which says it all. There’s a deep history behind the track; it’s a true symbol of Italianità — an Italian circuit through and through. The fans bring an incredible atmosphere, full of passion, color and energy. It’s not just a race — it’s a celebration.”
Campinoti and his spouse spend the race weekend in the staff’s two-story motor residence, parked in the paddock. “I love sleeping at the track because it allows me to really feel part of the MotoGP community and soak in the atmosphere of this special weekend,” he says. “Most riders sleep at the track as well, so after dinner it’s usually nice to catch up and chat with them — away from all the chaos that happens during the day. Waking up here, having breakfast with the team, and being right in the middle of the action from the very start — it’s something truly meaningful.”
Dominika Grnova, a motorsports reporter overlaying the Red Bull Rookies Cup — a proving floor for high riders of the long run — is equally enamored with Mugello. “The vibes, the Tuscan hills, these incredible colors, weather — this year it’s been really hot and it can be quite unpredictable; we don’t mind a little bit of showers and thunderstorms — but obviously the Italian vibes are just incredible, you’re always going to have fun here.”
A eager rider, Grnova usually takes a bike into the hills throughout race weekend. But there are hazards. On one tour for pizza, “They warned us ‘be careful because there are wild boars in the mountains,’ and literally five minutes after leaving the restaurant, (my colleague) hit a wild boar. Luckily, he didn’t crash, but we saw the wild boar spinning and squeaking, so it was really scary.”
Di Giannantonio’s teammate, Franco Morbidelli, first got here to the monitor as a toddler. “Actually, the first time I came here I can’t remember, because I was one, or one and half, and I was on the hills with my parents,” he tells NCS. “But definitely I remember the first time I came here as a kid with my father, enjoying Mugello and the race. But I also had the chance to come here and stay on the hills watching the racing and enjoying the environment of the hills; it was 2013 and I came here with a couple of friends (…) and it was great.”
Chainsaws and ‘rumore’
Press play to listen to the sounds of the chainsaws at Mugello.
Architect Alexis Cogul traveled from Miami along with his good friend Manny Azeri. They’d simply been in Monaco for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Azeri was making his Mugello debut. “It lived up to all my expectations and more,” he tells NCS excitedly. “Everybody knows everybody, especially in the paddock. It’s like a big family, and the fans are just crazy.”
The craziness is visceral — a mixture of pounding music, billowing smoke, crackling barbecues and revving engines. “The noise that you’re hearing is not motorcycles,” Cogul says, gesturing as much as the hills. “It’s actually people with chainsaws; they take off the chain and they basically modify the motor to imitate the bikes, they stay here for the whole weekend, and they create like a party.”
Brandishing one of those infernal machines is Italian Michele Fuso, tenting with associates. “You take a normal chainsaw, and you cut it here,” he says, pointing to a purple field with a deal with and a flared exhaust. “Then you weld something like this on,” he provides, pointing on the trumpet-like attachment. Asked why, Fuso and his associates shout in unison, “Rumore!” It’s the Italian phrase for noise — an finish in itself round right here.
Fuso fires it up. A passer-by pours pour beer into the funnel, which sprays again gold liquid, together with a puff of smoke as Fuso hoots in delight
Given Mugello’s rural location, lodging may be exhausting to search out for these not tenting. “We’re 45 mins from the center of Florence,” Cojul says. “You normally stay in a house or a small hotel, there’s nothing fancy around here. But that’s what makes it even more fun. There’s no civilization or much around here, there’s not a big city apart from Florence.”
By Saturday evening, the hilltop get together reaches a crescendo: DJs on an enormous stage play to 1000’s, fairground rides twirl towards the sky amid revelers dancing, ingesting and revving engines in a sea of limbs, lights and smoke.
Down in the pitlane, sophistication replaces chaos. Campinoti hosts a dinner exterior the Prima Pramac Yamaha staff storage. About 50 VIPs — together with actor Eric Bana, former F1 driver Mark Webber, World Cup-winning soccer captain Fabio Cannavaro, and MotoGP legend Giacomo Agostini — sit at white-clothed tables as Florence-based chef Riccardo Monco serves a multicourse meal.
“We wanted to do something truly special to celebrate our home race,” Campinoti tells NCS. “We wanted our guests to feel immersed in the spirit of racing — and the pitlane felt like the perfect place. It’s where so many crucial moments of the weekend happen, so turning it into a dinner setting creates something both unique and deeply meaningful.”
Midway by way of the meal, a mechanic wheels out KTM rider Pedro Acosta’s bike and revs it exhausting, drowning out the piano-led band. The drummer playfully faucets out a beat to match the roaring engine. Once once more, rumore guidelines over all, to the amusement of the diners.
‘A rider and a bike and two wheels’
It’s simple to overlook, amid the partying, that Mugello is primarily about racing, on MotoGP’s quickest monitor, with bikes topping 220 miles per hour in elbow-to-elbow battles for one of racing’s greatest prizes.
This yr’s occasion drew 166,000 spectators over three days, with Keanu Reeves among the many 84,625 in attendance for Sunday’s race. Ducati’s Marc Márquez took victory, a lot to the dismay of the Italian followers cheering for native hero, Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia. But few appeared to depart sad.
Which is healthier — Formula 1, or MotoGP? “Oh MotoGP, absolutely,” says Cogul, with out hesitation. “MotoGP is all about racing, when you mainly have a look at the race. Obviously, the hazard issue in MotoGP is at one other stage. It’s a way more excessive sport than Formula One, which is extra about statistics and characters behind the scenes.
“MotoGP is a rider and a bike and two wheels and the chances to fall or something to happen. It’s much more action-packed racing; at the end of the day, when you’re seeing that live, even the noise is louder, they’re completely raw bikes with nothing else, and that basically crawls your skin, so that’s why I recommend to see it.”
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