Ducati are firing on all cylinders. Between bike launches, movie launches, new engine tech, Ezrberg Rodeo, the Finke Desert race, MotoGP wins and now this – Ducati is entering the foreign land of Motocross.
The Italian brand has announced it is testing a new racing motocross bike and it will almost-certainly spin-off a range of production MX bikes to expand its line-up. With nine-time Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli leading Ducati’s charge into uncharted territory, the Italian flair is strong and it appears they may be taking over the world with two wheels, on road and off.
It seems success in other areas of racing has spurred on this momentum and Ducati’s constant drive to expand, explore and forge new paths. I’m not sure when they sleep, it must be an Italian coffee thing. The off-road scene has been brewing for Ducati – the DesertX and DesertX Rally adventures to Finke and Erzberg feel like a taste of what’s to come.
READ MORE: Ducati’s toughest bike yet – DesertX Rally
Ducati have stated ‘performance’ is one of the three core values of the brand, together with ‘style’ and ‘sophistication’. If Ducati can bring style and sophistication to the motocross track, then blimey, I’ll be damned. Time to elevate people, Australian ProMX won’t know what’s hit it.
So what does this mean for us, the consumer, the purchaser and tester of these new and exciting concepts? It means good things, the next step after competing is to create a family of bikes that you and I can take to the track. A Ducati spokesperson says, “the project envisages a full range of bikes and engines.”
Ducati have been working on this prototype for two years, so how is this project going to roll out and how long will they take to get up to speed? The Ducati rep says “next season we will be present in the Italian Motocross Championship, with the aim of using competitions as part of the bike development process and thus arrive at the time of sale to customers with a high-performance, well-tested bike. When we have achieved our performance goals, the plan is to participate in the top levels of competition.”
Aboard the new machine for the 2024 season will be eight-time Italian MX Champion and 2021 Motocross of Nations winner Alessandro Lupina.
VIDEO: Ducati takes on The Finke Desert Race
Delivering a broad power delivery curve via the same desmodronic system as the MotoGP bikes, may the force be with you Ducati because we’ve all seen how MotoGP has been going – domination. Taking into account motocross machines have more simplified technology and ECU set-up compared to what is necessary to excel with a MotoGP bike. This could bode well for Ducati’s progress.
Between Cairoli, Lupina and guided by the expertise of Maddie Racing, one of the most seasoned crews in the motocross scene, Ducati and their new beast from Borgo appear to be in safe hands.
Here is a taste of what’s to come – the Red from Borgo Panigale:
Diskusi tentang posting ini