19 minutes in the past | Phrases: Matt Holmes | Images: Ducati Media Home, MidJourneyAI
We first acquired wind of Ducati’s alleged MX ambitions some 9 months in the past, when rumours began surfacing that Ducati had been engaged on a 450cc motocross engine and chassis for a while.
Upping the hearsay ante much more this week is that the Bologna-based agency – who’s untouchable on the observe proper now, together with being reigning world champions in each MotoGP and World SBK – will goal the 2025 FIM MXGP World Championship to launch the mission.
Ducati spoke unofficially of their intentions to tackle MXGP again in 2022; their objective to race within the premiere class coming scorching on the tail of the discharge of their DesertX – a motorbike that has already reduce its tooth in off-road racing beneath Jordan Graham within the US and, much more just lately, taken to a class victory in Austria on the ErzbergRodeo Prologue by none aside from former World Enduro Champion, Antoine Meo.
Ducati’s elusive 450 MXer is rumoured to be making its first take a look at laps earlier than July (time is certainly working out!), and if Lewis Phillips from RacerX (on the newest PulpMX present) is to be believed, a Duc 250 is already within the works and present process testing in Sweden.
Phrase has it that Ducati will announce their racing plans earlier than the tip of the yr. We guess {that a} timeline can be alongside the traces of hitting up the 2024 Italian Championship as a warm-up for a MXGP title assault in 2025. And also you’d must say that AMA Supercross and an Outside season within the US wouldn’t be far behind.
Speaking US racing, the Ducati-related rumours get even wilder, with hypothesis rising that Ducati is seeking to signal two-time SX champ, Cooper Webb. Effectively, that’s when you’re to consider Robb Beams on his Moto Aftermath Podcast.
With Euro moto manufacturers turning into a dominant pressure throughout just about each style of moto racing as of late (with the latest German spherical of the MotoGP being the primary time since 1969 {that a} Japanese bike didn’t end within the prime 10!), the prospect of Ducati becoming a member of in on the MX and SX motion looks as if a no brainer. And don’t doubt for a second that if Ducati did throw its hat within the ring, they’d include a hefty, factory-backed funds. With no phrase from Ducati to both affirm or deny all these rumoured potentialities at this level, we’ll simply have to attend…
