Ducati have had their first year in the sport but more of a testing and development year as oppose to the main focus being on the racing side. But they still achieved success as Alessandro Lupino won the MX1 Italian Championship at the first time of asking on the brand new bike which is a huge achievement. Marco Maddii who is the team manager of the Ducati team has experience of helping new brands get into the sport as he was also involved in the Fantic project in the past but now his full focus is on MXGP as they will enter the World Championship in 2025.
We caught up with Maddii during Paris Supercross to discuss a range of topics. You can read, listen or watch below…
GateDrop: Marco, so Ducati burst onto the motocross scene this year, just talk me through the year of testing and developing the bike and your role as team manager and how it all went?
Maddii: I think it went really well as a first year, our goal was to bring home the Italian championship with the Lupino and we did it. It wasn’t easy but Alessandro got the championship so we’re really happy.
It was a very interesting and tough year because we have to develop the bike from zero. At the moment the bike reached a good stage of development but you know the work never ends so we are already working with the new riders for next season so the next season the goal will be much more higher. We’re going to be in the MXGP with two riders with Jeremy and another one (Mattia Guadagnini has now been announced) so it’s going to be a really tough challenge but yeah we are positive.
GateDrop: An Italian brand, the first year in the Italian championship, just how proud of you that you were able to deliver the first title for Ducati in the first year, the first time asking?
Maddii: Yeah, we’re very proud of that. You know we bring Ducati the first title in the history of the motocross it was a really really nice year. You know the first moto win in Mantova with Alessandro and then the first title. We are the first team with Ducati in the history so we’re very proud of this moment and this will be forever with us.
GateDrop: Of course you were involved at Fantic too and helping them burst onto the motocross scene as well… You seem to love a challenge of helping these new brands in the sport.
Maddii: Yeah, now it’s a complete new challenge. With Fantic it was a really nice three years, we did we achieve some great things, some great championships and now with another Italian brand. But this is a different challenge because now we are developing one bike from zero so it’s a different story but again another brand that comes in the Motocross and we are there again so we are very happy about that.
GateDrop: Having guys like Paolo Ciabatti, Antonio Cairoli, Alessandro Lupino… all very smart people. They know how to test a bike so I think Ducati know what they’re doing with employing these intelligent people…
Maddii: I mean when Paolo stepped into the Motocross project, it was a big improvement for our team and for our brand because he brings a lot more attention and sponsors so sure the step of Paolo in our discipline was very nice and very important. Then again Antonio came in the picture so he brings his amazing experience. Alessandro also, I have to say that he’s a really smart guy and he also has a lot of experience as well with testing and developing the bike so we had really a great team this year from the outside and inside. Now the goal is hopefully to continue and doing even better.
GateDrop: Antonio raced Arnhem and Alessandro raced the last European GP at Cozar, just how much did that help in terms of testing and developing the bike at GP level? I think they were racing a stock bike so it’ll only get better and the bike is already top 10 speed?
Maddii: It helped very much because we did one race in the sand and one race in the hard pack so this give to us a lot of information. Honestly I was really happy about the performance of the riders because they both show already a consistent top 10 speed and you know Antonio has retired three years. Alessandro did a race in the GP last year so I think for them to be already be in the top 10 with our bike, it shows a lot of the potential we have so we bring home a lot of information that we will need for the next year. It was important for us and to Ducati to do a test in the sand in the hard pack to know where we are and what we need to work on during the winter. It was really helpful and thanks to the riders that they took the challenge to compete in the World Championship with Ducati.
GateDrop: When it came to looking for riders for next year, was it tough because obviously Ducati haven’t raced the entire MXGP world championship before and a lot of the top riders already had contracts… but you ended up getting Jeremy Seewer who’s won GP’s so I think that speaks volumes of this project…
Maddii: Yeah we speak with a lot of riders but there is a lot of interest around Ducati and so a lot of the top riders, they also came to talk to us and then in the end we decided for Jeremy. The second rider will be present in some weeks (Mattia Guadagnini has now been announced). But yeah we are very happy with the riders we have because it was our goal from the beginning to have these two riders. We are happy that we made it happen, you know. So, we can’t ask more for the moment and I think the two riders are really the right people to make our debut season in MXGP.
GateDrop: You’ve started working with Jeremy Seewer, it’s obviously early days but what was his first impression of the bike?
Maddii: Yeah, we started two weeks ago with Jeremy. His impression was really positive he really liked the bike. I mean we have and Jeremy told us that we have a lot of strong points of the bike that makes the bike really easy to ride in terms of handling, in terms of engine. But yes, the impression of him was really positive… Of course we have somethings to fix and we are working on it from now to March when the championship starts but overall his first impression was really positive and at the moment we are all very pumped.
GateDrop: Is Jeremy still riding the stock bike and when are you hoping that you’ll maybe be able to step things up and get more parts and stuff for him?
Maddii: Yeah, we started with the stock bike in terms of engine but we put the factory suspension on it and now after these two weeks that we collect a lot of feedback from Jeremy we are developing new parts that we’re going to test in the coming weeks. So, let’s say that the factory development has just started and it was really important for us to have the feedback from Jeremy to know the direction and what we have to do to improve our bike. The work is just beginning you know, but yeah we are positive.
GateDrop: What are the plans for the off-season races? Will he probably race the international Italian championship or are you still waiting to find out?
Maddii: Oh yeah, the plan is to race the International Italian Championship, yes. There will be two or three rounds, we don’t know where yet but yes we’re going to race the series because we need more races and more starts with our bike. We will definitely be behind the gate before the MXGP World Championship starts.
GateDrop: Alessandro Lupino won the Italian championship this year, is the plan for Jeremy and the second MXGP rider (Mattia) also to race the Italian championship next year?
Maddii: About that we don’t have plans but yes probably, some rounds or maybe the second rider, yes. I mean we will see how the season is going and if we need to do some races in terms of developing the bike or in terms of training for the rider. So, we leave the door open because the main focus is on MXGP.
GateDrop: Are you going to be involved in the 250cc project and what’s that mean for Alessandro, is there a chance he could maybe race the MX2 Italian championship next year?
Maddii: No, we as a team will be not involved in the 250cc because our main goal and our main work will be to focus on 100 percent of our energy in the MXGP development. With the 250cc, it will be direct the company of Ducati will follow directly the process of development with another team and so this is good for us because we can focus on the real goal that is the MXGP. So, the plan for Alessandro will be to race the Italian championship with the 250cc so basically he will do the same he did here with the 450cc but with the 250cc and of course no World Championship.
GateDrop: Perfect, thank you very much for your time and good luck for the future of Ducati.
Maddii: Thank you very much.
