After the team announcement last year, Ducati announces the arrival of the Ducati Corse R&D – Factory MX Team, riding the new Ducati Desmo450 MX. A new division has been established to over the Borgo Panigale firm’s efforts in off-road racing Ducati Corse Off-Road, headed by Paolo Ciabatti.
Riders for the new team in 2024 are Antonio Cairoli and Alessandro Lupino, who will campaign the Desmo450 MX in the Italian Motocross Pro – Prestige MX1 Championship with the race debut set for March 16 and 17 in Mantua, Italy. Lupino will primarily focus the championship, and combine forces with Cairoli for the testing programme.
The team’s main focus in its debut year will be data acquisition and information for the further development of the Desmo450 MX. Ducati plans to use the Desmo450MX as the stepping stone for a range of motocross motorcycles that will be available for public purchase in a few years.
The DesmoMX 450 is powered by Ducati’s first single-cylinder engine since the introduction of the US-market Scrambler back in 1974. Dubbed the Superquadro Mono, the engine is derived from Ducati’s Superquadro V-twin, using internal dimensions found in the Panigale 1299 superbike and currently makes an appearance in the new Ducati Hypermotard 698 Mono.
Displacing 659 cc, the Superquadro Mono is claimed to produce 77.5 hp at 9,750 rpm and 64 Nm of torque at 8,000 rpm while the engine revs to a redline of 10,250 rpm. With the addition of the Termignoni race exhaust allows for a peak power of 84.5 hp, performance figures never seen for a production single-cylinder engine while still remaining Euro 5 compliant.
The Superquadro Mono mill not only uses the piston but also the shape of the combustion chamber from the Superquadro V-twin, along with the 46.8 mm diameter titanium intake valves, the 38.2 mm steel exhaust valves and Desmodromic mechanical valve actuation. Additionally, gear ratios from the Panigale V-4 Stradale gearbox are used, with a long first gear for use in slow corners, exploiting the torque available.
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