Late last year, after dominating the varied motorcycle championships, which also includes the premiere motorcycle racing series: “Moto GP” and WSBK championships, Ducati announced their interest in venturing into the world of Motocross championship, initiating from the Italian Motocross MXGP World Championship with the Ducati Corse Factory MX Team, ridden by Jeremy Seewer and Mattia Guadagnini.
Ducati built an all-new MX motorcycle to compete in the Italian Motocross Pro Prestige MX1 championship and dubbed it the Desmo 450 MX. It began competing in the said series in March 2025 against other factory-backed teams of series veterans: Honda, KTM, and Yamaha.
The Ducati Desmo 450 MX holds many firsts for Ducati; namely, it is the first-ever Motocross bike from the Borgo Panigale and the first motocross bike to incorporate desmodromic timing technology to carry the long revered Ducati Road Racing DNA for the offroad competition.
The Ducati Desmo 450 MX is powered by a new state-of-the-art single-cylinder 449.6cc, liquid-cooled, four-valve engine that makes 62bhp of peak power at 9,400rpm and a peak torque of 54Nm at 7,500 rpm, this single cylinder features the infamous desmodromic distribution technology that’s also incorporated in all Ducati racing stars even on the Moto GP stalwart The Desmosedici GP prototype racer. The Desmo technology allows for higher sustained peak torque at high revs – this feature gives the Desmo 450 MX certain unique characteristics, such as a more energetic launch off the pad allowing the rider to achieve the holeshot, and electronically limited rev limiter at 11,500 rpm, another first for the category.
Another First for the category is the state-of-the-art electronics such as segment-first traction control that intervenes for the rider by cutting off the engine power and limiting the peak output of the engine when the system is turned on. The bike sits on a lightweight aluminium frame to minimise welds, which helps enhance the structural rigidity of the frame, all while keeping things lightweight, suspended by the fully adjustable 49mm Showa suspension forks at the front and a mono-shock at the rear.
The braking duties are handled by a two-piston floating calliper with a 260mm disc at the front and a single-piston calliper and 240mm disc at the rear. Ducati also offers a choice of optional add-ons present on the Factory Racer Desmo450 MX such as wheel hubs, and triple clamps, but also a complete exhaust or Akrapovič titanium slip-on silencer all available under the Ducati Performance catalogue, which enables privateer riders to customize their Desmo 450 MX to replicate the original factory racer from mechanical components to aesthetics.
The Ducati Desmo 450 MX will go on sale in North America in late may at the earliest and would cost around $11,459 and will soon go on the showroom floors in European and asians markets.
