A new and historic chapter is opening for Ducati – the red team from Borgo Panigale is entering the world of motocross.
Nine-time MX World Champion Antonio Cairoli will join Ducati as a high-performance test rider for the new racing program.
Ducati has also signed a multi-year agreement with Maddii Racing, one of the most experienced teams in the motocross paddock, which will be the reference structure for MX racing activities and will take part in the 2024 Italian Motocross Championship with Alessandro Lupino, eight-time Italian Champion and winner of the 2021 MXoN, also hired by Ducati as a race and test rider.
This is a multi-year project that envisages the creation of a complete range of engines and off-road motorcycles. The models will gradually form part of a family of Ducati-branded motorcycles, starting with motocross.
The focus of Ducati’s off-road project is a combination of the demand for lightness taken to the extreme, top-of-the-range components and engines characterized by a very wide power delivery curve. The latter is achieved thanks to the use of the Desmodromic system, used on all the Bologna company’s sports bikes from MotoGP onwards. Ducati is, in fact, the only company in the world that uses the same valve return system on its top-performing production bikes as it does on its racing prototypes.
Entering the specialized off-road sector represents a very important and challenging strategic choice for Ducati, made possible by the excellent results achieved in recent years. A decision that confirms the desire to expand the brand’s presence in currently unexplored terrain. New young riders will be able to get closer to the Borgo Panigale brand and thus enter the large community of Ducatisti.
Performance is one of the brand’s three core values, along with style and sophistication.