Antonio Cairoli’s day was cut short at the RedBud National over the weekend, but it was a huge steppingstone for Ducati in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship and the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). Cairoli, who is now in a test rider/developer role, helped his fellow Italian brand debut their all-new Desmo450 MX motocross machine in Pro Motocross. Cairoli came to the U.S. last weekend for the Southwick National, serving as the event’s Grand Marshal, then got in some testing at The Wick 338 afterwards ahead of his two-race stint here at the RedBud and Spring Creek Nationals. Nine-time MXGP Champion Cairoli has raced the Ducati three times so far in the FIM Motocross World Championship overseas—once in 2024 and twice so far in 2025—as the brand gets ready to make a push in the SMX circuit next year.

On Saturday, Cairoli put his bone stock Desmo450 MX into the motos after qualifying tenth overall (Cairoli explained that his race bike is stock because they don't have any mods available for the production bike yet). In the first moto, he was running inside the top ten in the opening lap and even uncorked the massive LaRocco’s Leap just a few laps in. He rode home to a strong ninth place finish in the very first moto for the Ducati brand, marking its spot in the history books of AMA Motocross for another new OEM to compete. That makes for 10 different brands to compete in races this season.

Cairoli was inside the top five early in moto two, but unfortunately that race ended early after an electrical issue. Cairoli’s 9-39 landed him 14th overall but showed the Desmo450 MX is already a very capable machine still in its early days.

Cairoli said in an Instagram post (see below), “Shame for moto 2 could have been a good overall finish but a little electric issue force us to stop.”

Something that cannot be overlooked in all of this is Cairoli’s age. He stepped away from racing full-time at the end of the 2021 season, came to the U.S. for a handful of Pro Motocross rounds in 2022, then did not compete in a single MXGP/U.S. Pro Motocross round at all in 2023. He made one start with Ducati in August 2024 and has been developing the machine every step since its infancy. Now at the age of 39, he just collected a top-ten overall at the MXGP in England and few weeks ago, and has this top-ten moto finish in the U.S. now. There are not very many riders that age that have ever been able to line up and grab top tens.

Factory Connection, which has been setting up Cairoli's bike, will get back to work today and look to make progress ahead of this weekend’s Spring Creek National in Millville, Minnesota. Can Cairoli land another top-ten moto finish? How about a top-ten overall finish? It seems very possible.

And a final thing to note: if Cairoli ends up racing the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in early October, he will be 40 years old at the time of the event!

As for the AMA homologation rules, we have learned Ducati has applied for early homologation (which has been done previously by other OEMs). They will have 90 days from when they applied—which was July 1—to get 400 units in the American market. If they are unable to do so, the rulebook states they will face monetary and sporting penalties. 

"Red Buuuuuuud baby what a great experience seeing allot of friends and enjoying this beautiful track and such a great fans atmosphere 😍
Shame for moto 2 could have been a good overall finish but a little electric issue force us to stop.
Really happy with the improvement we made on suspension side @fcsuspension 🔥💪🏼
Onto the next one @springcreekmx ✊🏽"

The following press release is from Ducati Corse:

• Top 10 for Cairoli and the Desmo450 MX in race one at RedBud

Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, on the opposite side to Chicago, the legendary RedBud track hosted the American debut of the Ducati Desmo450 MX. The bike, entered with the support of Factory Connection, was piloted by nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli in the sixth round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

After serving as Grand Marshal at the Southwick round the previous weekend and completing some valuable testing sessions, Cairoli lined up for qualifying at RedBud eager to begin his day in fine style.

Despite scorching temperatures and just two 20-minute timed practice sessions to get up to speed, Tony posted the 10th fastest time out of 80 riders - showcasing his ability to quickly adapt to the unique format and intensity of AMA motocross compared to the MXGP series.

In the opening moto, the Sicilian rider got off to a rapid start, exiting the first turn in fifth place. However, with the blistering intensity early on, Cairoli slipped back to 12th by the end of lap two. Admirably regaining his rhythm, Tony found a solid pace and began to climb back through the field, eventually taking the chequered flag in ninth after a close battle with the two riders ahead of him.

In the second moto, despite a last-minute gate position change, Cairoli launched to an even better start to propel himself into fourth and into the top-five fight for the first four laps. He even challenged for third place before an electrical issue forced him to retire early, ending what had been a promising run on the Desmo450 MX.

The testing and development effort for Borgo Panigale’s first motocross bike will now continue ahead of the next round at Spring Creek in Millville, Minnesota.

Antonio Cairoli:

“It was an amazing experience to ride here in RedBud. In the first moto, I had some trouble during the first laps. I had a good start in P5, but my starting hook got stuck, and I lost a few positions. Then I was able to find a nice flow, and I came back to P9. I was happy with my pace. In the second moto, my plan was to get another fast start and manage the opening laps better, but after a strong launch into fourth and while pushing for third, we had a small issue with the bike, and I was forced to pull out. Overall, it was still a positive day. We’re here to test and develop the bike, and these things can happen. Now we’re looking forward to a solid week of training and coming back ready to battle for another top 10 in Millville.”