Troy Dog
Ducati is building momentum…and fast.
As most of you know nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli is a huge part of Ducati’s bike development, but he actually made his racing debut over the weekend with the brand. Cairoli entered the fourth round of the Italian Motocross Championship and he actually won the first Moto in some very muddy conditions.
Then to make matters even better for the Italian manufacturer, they had Alessandro Lupino take home the overall win with 2-1 score on the day at Ponte a Egola. Lupino also took over the lead in the championship standings with only two rounds to go.
Ponte a Egola (PI), 24 June 2024 – The Ducati Desmo450 MX dominated the fourth round of the Italian Pro-Prestige MX1 Motocross Championship thanks to wins for Alessandro Lupino and Tony Cairoli. The eight-time Italian Champion conquered the red plate reserved for the leader of the classification, giving the Desmo450 MX its first overall victory, while the nine-time world champion contributed to another memorable chapter in the history of Ducati Corse Offroad with a victory in race 1 on his debut riding the Borgo Panigale bike.
In the first heat, on extremely difficult track conditions due to the heavy rain that fell since the early hours of the morning, Lupino and Cairoli took the lead thanks to a perfect start which saw them go into the first corner in first and second position. The two riders led the race, alternating in the lead for seven laps, at the end of which the stewards displayed the red flag due to the prohibitive weather conditions. The classification, frozen at the end of the previous lap, therefore, saw Cairoli as the winner ahead of Lupino.
The second heat saw a repeat of the lightning-fast start of the Ducati riders, with Lupino ahead of Cairoli. The race revolved around a battle between the two, and at the end Alessandro Lupino narrowly prevailed, thus scoring the second victory of the day for the Ducati Off-Road team and the Desmo 450 MX. Alessandro’s first and second place allowed him to conquer the overall ranking of the day, and also powered him to the top of the championship standings, with two races remaining. Lupino also won the Holeshot award.
The extreme conditions of the track during the first heat, and Tony’s participation in the Ponte a Egola race allowed Ducati engineers to collect more valuable data for the development of the Desmo450 MX, with a view to entering production in 2025.
The next round of the Italian Motocross Championship is scheduled from August 31st to September 1st on the Castiglione del Lago (PG) track. After a short holiday break in the next few days, Alessandro Lupino and Tony Cairoli will resume an intense testing program in the months of July and August.
This is another huge step in Ducati’s process that will eventually lead the brand to race in Monster Energy Supercross and the Pro Motocross Championship.
Main Image: Courtesy of Ducati
