Motocross: Ducati lift the covers off the Desmo450 MX

Ducati have lifted off the covers to their new Motocross bike.

During the Campioni in Pista event, held at the Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, Ducati showed the world their Motocross bike. The Ducati Desmo450 MX will hit the track for the first time this year in a groundbreaking time for Ducati.

It is their first Motocross bike and will be raced in every round of the Italian Motocross Pro MX1 Championship. Antonio Cairoli and Alessandro Lupino will ride the bike, with the bike debut set for March 16.

The target for Ducati will be to collect data in this first season to add to the development of the production machine. The Ducati Desmo 450 MX will go into production in the second half of 2025.

Ducati has also employed Paolo Ciabatti as he switches from overseeing the WorldSBK and MotoGP projects. Ducati also hopes to race in MXGP and AMA Supercross in the years to follow.

The bike was unveiled alongside Ducati’s MotoGP and WorldSBK machines at the Italian ski slope.

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding said: “It is a great pleasure to inaugurate another Ducati racing season in Madonna di Campiglio, a location that perfectly expresses the values of ‘Made in Italy’ of which we are proud ambassadors, and which last year represented the starting point of an unforgettable season.

“The path that has led us to be the best in the world in racing is undoubtedly made up of the hard daily work of these years, but also of our ability to work as a team and have fun while putting our maximum effort into what we do.”

“One of the strong elements of our brand is the ability to create a system and today we demonstrate this by jointly presenting the official teams for the 2024 racing season: the Ducati Lenovo Team, the Aruba.it – Racing Ducati Team and the novelty represented by the Ducati Corse R&D – Factory MX Team. 

“The entry into motocross is in fact a clear example that our will to improve and our desire to win have no limits. In these two days, we will have the opportunity to give ourselves the right energy for a season that promises to be full of challenges, in which we will try to confirm our leadership in the main track racing world championships and demonstrate our capabilities in a new terrain such as specialist off-road. Challenges have always encouraged us to bring out the best and we feel absolutely ready.”

Image credit: Ducati Media