Ducati General Manager Off-Road Paolo Ciabatti spoke to the media at the MXGP of Arnhem and offered an open insight into the manufacturer’s plans for the future.
From Romain Febvre’s arrival and the financial speculation surrounding his move, to Ducati’s plans to run two MXGP riders and two MX2 riders in 2027, Ciabatti addressed a wide range of topics and provided plenty of detail on the continued development of the Desmo450 MX project.
Febvre deal: “It is nothing outside of what is normal in this world”
Following Romain Febvre’s comments in Uddevalla about his decision to join Ducati, Ciabatti was keen to address speculation surrounding the financial side of the deal.
“I wanted also to comment on what Romain Febvre said in Uddevalla. He said his main motivation to join Ducati for the next two years was a new challenge and also the possibility for him to continue at least for two years in his exceptional racing career. We heard there are rumours about crazy money being spent on this deal. I just want to tell you that obviously we don’t disclose what is confidential, but the salary of Romain is in line with what he is currently making with his current manufacturer and what a world champion is deserving. It is nothing outside of what is normal in this world”
Ciabatti believes Febvre’s experience will be an important asset for Ducati as the manufacturer continues to develop its Motocross programme.
“Romain is a demanding rider which is good. Obviously, I think also for us to have someone like Romain with such a wide experience, he has his own strong ideas and wishes, but he also has such an experience which I think can only be beneficial for the whole project”.
Ducati ready to test with Febvre after the MXoN
One of the interesting aspects of Febvre’s move is how quickly Ducati can begin working with the Frenchman once the 2026 season concludes. Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser both had to wait until January the 1st – but it’s not the same for Febvre.
Ciabatti explained that Febvre will be able to test the Ducati as soon as the MXoN is over.
“Luckily the contract he has, it is like the contract we have with our riders, it is basically ending at the end of a championship, so apart from eventual promotional activities that you need to do as a rider for the team sponsor and so on, he is basically free to ride the bike unbranded. As he’s a monster athlete until I think the end of the year, and we are sponsored by Red Bull but these things can be easily managed like wearing unbranded racing gear, helmet and an unbranded bike. We can just start testing as soon as the season is over”.
Ciabatti explains why Ducati announced Febvre early
Ducati’s announcement of Febvre’s signing came before the end of the current season, something Ciabatti believes makes sense given that the move was already widely known within the paddock.
“I have a personal opinion, when everybody knows everything in the paddock and where someone is going to be going and everybody knows, why do you want to keep it a secret? Why do you need to wait until the end of a contract to make a public announcement that everybody knows already knows weeks before anyway. Secondly, sponsors need to know, and we cannot tell a sponsor if something is not announced. I think also for us to be able to announce it early, I must thank Kawasaki as they agreed to do this kind of thing. We do this in MotoGP and World Superbike quite often. You say goodbye and we say welcome which is the way to do it. I really don’t understand why you wouldn’t have it like this with people speculating, writing articles about something that everybody knows. It makes no sense to make it public when it’s no news anymore. I think, again, this is my personal view, but as I said, to be able to approach partners and sponsors for next season, we say hey, this is our commitment. We are committed to having two riders with a young promising rider and take a proven champion. When you need to renew contracts and try to find new partners, if you make it public, it’s easier. Otherwise, you need to always negotiate with the racing gear, helmet saying, hey, it’s this, but we cannot announce it and so on. Honestly, I don’t see a reason for this, but again, I might be wrong”.
Ducati to run two MXGP riders in 2027
Ducati will reduce its MXGP effort from what was three riders at the start of the season to two for the 2027 season, with Ciabatti explaining that the decision is designed to allow the manufacturer to focus more heavily on development.
“For next year, it’s going to be with two riders for sure. Obviously, Louis has had the team with three riders for many, many seasons, so we started this season with three riders. Since this project still needs a lot of work and development and we are developing a lot of new parts and new solutions, we think that two riders, at least for next year, is the best option. It gives us a way to concentrate and if we have something which we think is working, we need to bring it for two riders and not for three riders. Sometimes it makes a difference because prototype parts or new parts might not be available in quantity, so we also didn’t want to stress too much the structure in Holland. Working with two riders, at least for next year, is making everybody more focused on what they need to do without having too much stress.
Ducati continuing to develop the Desmo450 MX
Ciabatti also offered an insight into just how much work has gone into the Desmo450 MX since Ducati first raced the prototype at Arnhem in 2024.
“The bike you see here is a deep evolution of a bike you saw in 2024, when we had the first race here with Tony, it was a full prototype, meaning the bike was not yet in production. So everything was the prototype and the same bike we also raced with Lupino in Cozar last year the bike was the pre-production model because we started to produce the bike in June 2025. So based on that we made a lot of evolutions. Obviously, I cannot go too much into details of what we’ve been doing, but engine, chassis, suspension, it’s a lot we have been doing. We are not fully satisfied yet, as Louis was saying, and there is a lot of work to do and a lot of ideas we are developing. Sometimes with the help of our American team, I must say, to be totally honest, on the engine we’ve been helped by them with some ideas, but it’s a continuous exchange of information between what we do here and what we do in the States, which I think is a good way to cooperate on two parallel programmes. The next bike, honestly I think it’s not coming before a model in 2029, probably there will be some model upgrades, but we think there is a lot to take out of this bike, we just keep working on it as we’ve been doing in the last months”.
Two MX2 riders planned for 2027
Ducati is also planning to expand its MX2 presence next season, with two riders set to contest the World Championship. Ferruccio Zanchi remains under contract with Ducati, while the manufacturer is in talks for a second rider under the Beddini awning.
“We are planning to have two MX2 GP riders and no European Championship riders so far. Zanchi has a contract with us for next year. With Zanchi, the accident in Foxhill was very bad, so I just spoke to our doctor, who is in charge of Orthopaedics who has been following this. I think now Ferruccio is able to start training. We don’t want to push it too much because in the end we have nothing to lose in the championship and we don’t want to jeopardise his season for next year”.
Ciabatti confirmed that finding a second MX2 rider is now a priority, with the Beddini Racing team set to focus exclusively on the class and won’t line up in the EMX250 series.
“We’re looking for a second rider in the MX2 World Championship. This year we have a prototype 250 for Ferruccio and a standard bike for Simone (Mancini). I think the team and the partners of the team, would like to see two riders in MX2. Also for us, the experience of this year with the accident that happened Ferruccio at the beginning of the season during testing and then now, means that we have nobody racing in the World Championship. Two riders in MX2 will give us the opportunity to have both riders, hopefully, but at least one rider competing in the MX2 World Championship. The Beddini team will concentrate on MX2. If we have an opportunity with some other teams for a European championship, there are a couple of discussions, but nothing concrete at the moment. But we’ll be more than happy to have also a couple of riders in the European championship, but this is not something that will be done with the Beddini Racing because they will move permanently to MX2, which was actually the plan when we signed the agreement with them”.
