DIRT NEWS

Motocross World Championship debut in the Netherlands at the hands of the evercapable Tony Cairoli . The nine-time World Champion , who had been missing from the GPs for three years since his retirement from regular racing , finished in Saturday ’ s Qualifying Race with a convincing seventh position after being fourth for a long time , confirming the performances of the Desmo450 MX . In the first Race on Sunday , Cairoli was unable to get away well at the start and finished the race in fifteenth position . In Race 2 , however , he climbed up to ninth position by setting excellent lap times but was forced to retire due to a technical problem during the sixth lap . Participation in the Dutch GP is part of Ducati ’ s development plan for the Desmo450 MX , with the bike expected to move into taking part in next year ’ s MXGP World Championship and go into production - a move that will mark Ducati ’ s entry into the off-road specialist segment .

98 KIWI RIDER

The Arnhem race allowed Ducati engineers to collect other valuable data on difficult sand to

support the development of the Desmo450 MX . In addition , in Holland , the Borgo Panigale bike competed in 2025 configuration as regards the phonometric limit , an important test to confirm the technical choices in view of next season when the limit will go from 112 to 109db . “ We bring home an excellent test for the bike . Before the GP we did three weeks of testing between Holland and Belgium but the conditions of today ’ s track were very far from those found in the various tests ”, explained Cairoli . “ Our goal was to test the Desmo450 MX in extreme conditions and I had very positive feelings . Yesterday , in the Qualifying Race , we got a very good seventh place , which is a fantastic result for such a young bike . On Sunday , I didn ’ t get a good start in both heats , but in Race 2 I was in the top 10 and so I ’ m satisfied . After three years away from the GPs it was definitely not an easy race for me , especially on a difficult track like this ”.