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After putting the first Round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Mantua in the archives, the Aruba.it - Ducati Factory MX Team has unveiled the livery with which Mattia Guadagnini and Jeremy Seewer will tackle the Borgo Panigale manufacturer's first, historic season in MXGP, kicking off next March 2 in Argentina. A challenge that anticipates the next step for the Italian manufacturer, eager to test itself on another tough stage, such as AMA Supercross. We talked about this and much more on the sidelines of the team presentation with Paolo Ciabatti, General Manager of Ducati Corse Off-Road.
Paolo, how does it feel to see the Off-Road project starting to come into its own?
"It is a great satisfaction, because last year, at the behest of our CEO Claudio Domenicali, we started racing in the Italian championship with the goal of developing and testing the prefiguration of the production model. But we managed to win four races, counting Antonio Cairoli's success in Ponte a Egola, and bring home the Italian title with Alessandro Lupino. It was a somewhat unexpected satisfaction, because competing to win the championship was not on the agenda at the beginning of 2024. And in addition to succeeding, we also did two races in the MXGP World Championship with Cairoli in Netherlands and Lupino in the last race in Spain, to understand our level compared to the riders and teams competing in the World Championship. Now we will start our first full season in World Motocross with Jeremy Seewer and with Mattia Guadagnini."
What ambitions do you start with?
"Seweer is a rider with a lot of experience and definitely Top 5. While Guadagnini is 23 years old and we believe he has a lot of talent that for various reasons he has not yet been able to express and that we hope he will be able to show by working in an environment where he will have everything he needs to prove himself. We know that it will not be easy at the beginning, because the bike will receive several evolutions during the season, however, there is no point hiding: we expect to be able to fight for the podium in the second half of the year. A reasonable goal is definitely to finish the championship in the Top 5 with Seewer, knowing that ours is a bike that still needs some development."
What are the aspects that still need to be worked on?
"We definitely need to get something out at the engine level, which is an area where we still have something to give. Then, there is always the search for the perfect set-up with the suspension. We work with Factory Showa forks and shocks and two of their technicians who follow our riders, but it's work that will still continue in the coming races to search for perfection. Assuming it exists in a world like motocross, where conditions vary not only by weather, but also by track use."
The Round in Mantua of the Internazionali d'Italia was inconclusive precisely because of the weather conditions. However, are you satisfied with the result, or did you expect to leave with a podium finish?
"I would say no, because the conditions were extreme. What was important for us is that under those circumstances both bikes managed to finish the first and second races without any technical problems. That was kind of what we expected. Then, in my opinion Mattia could have done better if he didn't have a problem at the start in Race 1 and if in both races he didn't have a major handicap like having to take off his goggles at one point because he couldn't remove the protective films. Maybe with Seewer we could have been thinking about a third place, but in the first race he slipped because of a lapped rider in the middle of the line when he was getting close to Bonacorsi. And from there on, with bent handlebars, he finished fourth. We can be moderately satisfied. Hoping for less extreme weather conditions in Montevarchi."
I guess you are also very confident, as the adaptation of both riders seems to be going very well.
"Yes, they are both very happy and that is very positive because they know there will be work to do, but they are comfortable on the bike. It was not such a trivial thing for this to happen, because they are riders with different builds and riding styles, but they both fit well and this is a great way to start the championship."
With the agreement with Troy Lee Designs, Ducati's arrival in America also begins to take shape. What are the next steps for the project?
"Actually, right now the agreement with Troy Lee Designs is more of a marketing deal, in the sense that Troy will be in the paddock of eight Supercross races with us, his sponsors and our bike. In truth it will be one of the prototypes we used in last year's race, decorated with his skill and ability to be a great artist. Showing the public that tends to buy these types of motorcycles our motorcycles, which will be coming to dealers in July, will help us to introduce them to launch our bike in the American market in an important way. We will also be present during the MotoGP event in Austin on Ducati Island, to show our bike even to Ducatisti who don't go to Supercross. In the meantime, we have started the development work on the Supercross bike with our technical partner Factory Connection. Based on where we will be around June-July we will figure out when we can launch the racing program in the United States."
Do you already have an idea of when to start racing in America?
"At the moment, we don't plan to race in Supercross in 2026. The goal is to do the whole season in 2027 and perhaps to race in the Outdoors, which is much more similar to World Cross, since it takes place on outdoor tracks and not inside stadiums. The championship starts in May and we could possibly think about doing all ten rounds of the Outdoors championship in 2026. It doesn't make sense for us to get ahead of schedule if we don't think we are ready, also because we have seen how long it has taken other manufacturers to be competitive in Supercross. We are not in a hurry to get into it right away at all costs: we aim to race with a top rider, and to do that you have to have shown that the bike is at a level where you can fight for victory. Right now we don't have that information yet, but I think we will know more in July."
