It was less than 12 months ago that Ducati Corse confirmed its intentions to enter the dirt bike market, before formally unveiling the ‘Desmo450 MX’ factory prototype during January’s annual ‘Campioni in Pista’ event situated at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. Now, nine-time world champion Tony Cairoli has completed Ducati’s debut in MXGP, but what can we take from it?

As the reigning champions in both MotoGP and World Superbike, the Borgo Panigale-based manufacturer’s arrival in motocross under the management of Paolo Ciabatti comes with significance, and following a successful entry into the Italian championship this year – currently led by official test rider Alessandro Lupino – Ducati chose the Netherlands for its anticipated grand prix debut with 38-year-old Cairoli at the helm.

In his first MXGP start since retiring from full-time competition at the end of 2021, Cairoli claimed a convincing seventh position in Saturday’s qualification race at Arnhem after running as high as fourth position. Sunday proved more difficult, finishing 15th in moto one and then being forced out of the second encounter on lap six with a technical fault, but it wasn’t without promise as he posted the sixth-fastest lap-time of all in the moto.

“We bring home an excellent test for the bike,” Cairoli recalled on Sunday afternoon. “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. 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 two 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.”

It’s unclear if Cairoli or the Ducati Corse R&D Factory MX Team will make any more MXGP appearances in 2024, but regardless, the chance to share the track with the world championship regulars and completing a full race weekend was instrumental in the brand collecting data ahead of a full-time FIM world championship entry in 2025. While the end results weren’t in line with Cairoli’s outright performance across the weekend, the information and experienced gained will be paramount come next season.

For now, the Desmo450 MX development program will continue in round five of the Italian series at the end of this month at the hands of Lupino, with just two rounds remaining in the domestic championship. It’s an environment that will form the foundations for Ducati to build upon into the future, albeit on a lesser scale and already achieving immense success from the outset in an incredibly short period of time. And a 250 is already in the works, expected to be rolled out and on-track in the final quarter of this year.

Looking ahead, it was revealed during the recent World Ducati Week that Ducati will field experienced grand prix front-runner Jeremy Seewer – following just a single year at Kawasaki – and youthful Italian Mattia Guadagnini in MXGP 2025 within the Maddii Racing-operated team, and from there, America and Monster Energy AMA Supercross will become the next target. It’s a fascinating project to follow and one that, in the end, the sport becomes the ultimate winner as a result of Ducati’s presence.