Ducati’s winning motocross debut
The Ducati Desmo450 MX prototype, ridden by Alessandro Lupino took pole position and victory on its debut in the Motocross Pro-Prestige MX1 Italian Championship – and finished second overall in the first round of 2024.
The prototype marks Ducati’s entry into specialist off-road racing and represents the first step in a project that will see the birth of a complete range of off-road motorcycles, developed on the most demanding of race tracks.
In the first round of the Italian MX1 Championship, held on the International Circuit of Mantua, the eight-time Italian Champion, after having set the best benchmark both in free practice and in qualifying, led the opening heat from the first to the last lap. In the second heat, after a difficult start, Lupino finished seventh after a great comeback, sealing the second overall place in the round.
Alessandro Lupino said: “These were two very exciting days, my debut with the Ducati was truly a dream. They told me it would be, but today I experienced it! Feeling like a Ducatista is a truly special sensation.
“Congratulations to all the guys who worked on this project, because in a very short time they created a spectacular bike, with a lot of potential, doing an incredible job. Together we wrote a page of history: first pole and first heat victory for the Ducati Desmo450 MX. Unfortunately, the second heat didn’t go as I would have liked: I got the start wrong and wasn’t able to recover. But that’s okay, now the engineers have the data to analyse two completely different situations!”
Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding added: “This weekend in Mantua we wrote another chapter in the history of Ducati. Alessandro Lupino and our team gave us some great fun and, despite it being the first motocross race in our recent history, we immediately demonstrated outstanding performance. Best time in free practice, pole and victory in the first heat are truly a debut that lives up to expectations: we have gathered a lot of information which will be fundamental to best develop the bike that will be available to all enthusiasts next year. Congratulations to Alessandro and our entire off-road team, a fantastic start to a new story of sport and passion.”
Sunday’s two motos allowed Ducati engineers to collect important racing data to continue the development of the Desmo450 MX which, upon its debut, has confirmed the validity of the technical base of the prototype.
The focus of the Ducati Off-Road project is a combination of the search for lightness pushed to the extreme, top-of-the-line components and engines characterized by a very broad delivery curve. The latter is obtained thanks to the utilization of the Desmodromic system, used on all the sports bikes of the Borgo Panigale company starting from MotoGP. Ducati remains the only company in the world that uses the same valve return system on its highest performing production motorcycles as it uses on racing prototypes.
Ducati announced its entry into the world of motocross last October and promised a range of models that will be available on the market in the next few years.
Ducati Corse Off-Road presented the two prototypes that will be used by nine-times MX GP world champion Antonio Cairoli and Alessandro Lupino in 2024, in Madonna di Campiglio during the Campioni in Pista event in January.
The Desmo450 MX was presented in the racing livery that it will sport in this year’s Italian Motocross Pro ‘Prestige MX1 Championship’ with the Ducati Factory MX Team managed by Corrado and Marco Maddii.
The target of the first season of racing is mainly to acquire data and information in racing to contribute to the development of the Desmo450 MX that will go into production in the second half of 2025.
As well as Lupino taking part in all the race he’s will be joined in testing by Antonio Cairoli, the nine-times World MX champion. Now 38, Sicilian Cairoli racked up 94 MX GP race wins
(24 MX2, 39 MX1, 31 MXGP) in his stellar GP career.
After his full-time racing career ended, Cairoli became team manager of the Red Bull KTM Factory team and oversaw their efforts in both MX2 and MXGP. He left KTM in 2023 to join the new Ducati motocross programme to assist the Borgo Panigale factory in development of the new motocross range due to go on sale in 2025.
It was in December 20023 when Ducati announced its decision to create the Off-Road Division of Ducati Corse, which includes participation in the MXGP World Championship and the AMA Supercross Championship in the next few years.
To accommodate the new off -road department meant a reshuffle of the company’s management structure. Paolo Ciabatti, Sporting Director of Ducati Corse from 2013 to 2023, fills the role of General Manager of the new Ducati Corse Off-Road, with the aim of taking the Borgo Panigale company to success also in the world of off-road, and will report directly to the CEO of Ducati Motor Holding, Claudio Domenicali.
For 2024, Ciabatti will also retain responsibility for coordinating Ducati’s sporting activities in the main national SBK and SSP championships (MotoAmerica, British Superbike, All Japan Superbike, Australian Superbike and CIV).
Mauro Grassilli, Head of Marketing and Sponsorships of Ducati Corse, will take on the role of Sporting, Marketing and Communications Director of Ducati Corse, reporting directly to Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi Dall’Igna. Ducati Corse will continue to manage the MotoGP and WorldSBK championships with the aim of continuing the extraordinary series of successes that have characterized the Borgo Panigale company’s recent years.
The next round of the Italian Motocross Championship is scheduled for April 27-28 on the Cingoli (MC) circuit. In the meantime, the tests of the Ducati Corse R&D – Factory MX Team will continue together with Lupino and Cairoli.