Paolo Ciabatti presented himself in Madonna di Campiglio, the venue for the presentation of all the 2024 racing Ducatis, in his new role, that is, manager of Ducati Corse Off-Road, the new branch of the Borgo Panigale racing department.
A new adventure conceived and strongly desired by Ducati to attract young motorcyclists by creating 250 and 450 production bikes starting from the second half of 2025, but strictly derived from the Desmo450 MX presented in the last few hours.
A new, great adventure for the Bolognese company, never attempted before. This is why Ciabatti wanted to tell the story of the gestation of the off-road project from its origins.
“The Ducati Corse Off-Road project is an idea developed in the second half of 2023. It all started last year when we were in Anaheim to watch a race. We thought about and created the contract that was signed with the team and obviously with Tony Cairoli and Alessandro Lupino. The idea of carrying out the project came up although it is something extremely different from what we have done up to now on the track, even if the same type of professionalism and approach is needed. In the end everything was born in a material way between October and November”.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Sporting Director
Ducati, after 2024 which will move to the Italian championship to develop the Desmo 450 MX, plans to make further steps forward in off-road racing. Among his projects for the near future, MXGP and Supercross stand out. The American market is one of the most important for Ducati, therefore the presence of the Bolognese brand on the other side of the Atlantic appears to be something indispensable.
“Supercross is something different. In 2023 we went to see some races and we went to see the first one of this season. We are still considering and looking for our partners for the 2026 season and enter Supercross in that season. These are our current plans. We will take things seriously. We know it's not easy, so we will put all our effort into this.”
“We know that Cross and Supercross are different things, so we will have to try to attract some riders, some of the top riders, and this will be one of the priorities, one of the keys to arriving and doing well. We also know that it is an expensive project. We are also working to make sure we find the right resources and do things in the best possible way. It's still early to take stock, but we hope to be able to arrive later in the year and already have a clear idea of who our partner will be and , possibly, who the pilots will be.”
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Alessandro Lupino, Ducati Team
With the presentation of the Off-Road project, it is impossible not to talk about the possibility of seeing Ducati race in the Dakar. Ciabatti ruled out that this could happen in the next 2-3 years. In the pipeline there will be the possibility of participating in MXGP and Supercross, but if things go well, never say never…
“Several people saw on social media, I'm quite active, that I was recently at the Dakar. I was among the organizers' invitees. I was returning from Anaheim for the Supercross, but I decided to go anyway for three days because there was the opportunity to talk to different people. It was really very interesting, I also had the opportunity to talk to Castera and the whole organisation. There are no plans, at the moment, related to the Dakar for Ducati. But never say never. But it's not something that will happen in the near future. We will certainly have a good basis to be able to participate thanks to the new bike. There are several manufacturers in the Dakar and the race is really beautiful, interesting. But as I said there are no plans at the moment.”
The former Ducati Corse MotoGP team manager also explained the Off-Road project from an economic point of view. The presence of sponsors is fundamental to support development over the next 18 months, when Ducati will not sell any motorcycle derived from the Desmo 450.
“Ducati has chosen to go down the off-road route and will do so very seriously. As we said, we will do everything we can to design and produce the best possible bike for us and our customers. We will do everything we can from a racing point of view From the sponsors' point of view we have Monster who supports us and will also do so in Superbike, which they didn't do until last year. We also have other partners who allow us to have a nice budget despite only doing the Italian championship this year , and that's very good for us.”
“But there is also to consider that at least until mid-2025 we will not be able to sell any motorbikes to customers. This will be a 100% Ducati project and investment for the next year and a half. One of my objectives is precisely to find the budget necessary for Ducati to compete at the level we think it deserves. We are very happy to work with the Maddii, it is very important to us and we are proud of this. We think they have the right structure to take the necessary steps for our project and we will help us achieve our goals. It's just the beginning. Racing in 2024 is just part of the development process, but we will still do everything we can to do well. Then we will have to make the best possible choice regarding the 2025 MXGP. we'll do it in a few months.”
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Ducati Corse R&D – Factory MX Team
From a technical point of view, Ciabatti revealed that the Desmo450 MX is destined to change a lot in the coming months. This is why during the presentation the team did not go into too much technical detail. One thing, however, was made clear: the Desmo engine that equips the prototype was created from a blank sheet of paper and does not derive from any engine already made by Ducati.
“We don't want to go into too much detail about the bike simply because it is a prototype and between now and the day production begins (in mid-2025, more or less) several things could change a lot. However, as both Cairoli and Lupino said, the The bike was born well, it exceeded our expectations and we are happy. But there will still be a lot of work to do, something to improve and fix. This is why we want not to divulge certain things, because something will certainly change.”
“The engine of the Desmo450 MX is something completely new. It is not like that of the Panigale, which derives from the MotoGP desmodromic. On the prototype there is a completely new engine in which the desmo is used. There are no components in common with other existing engines that we have done previously”, concluded Ciabatti.
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