Ducati Desmo450 MX: legendary frame or marketing?

Motocross enthusiasts are famously both knowledgeable and unafraid to speak their minds. With the explosion of social media, every piece of news becomes an opportunity to make noise—especially with Ducati entering the discipline over the past two years. The Desmo450 MX was the special focus of the 2025 MXGP World Championship where, with essentially zero experience, it picked up a couple of podiums with Jeremy Seewer. A haul considered by most to be below expectations, triggering cutting assessments of the bike’s potential.

While according to riders and testers the Ducati Desmo450 MX certainly gives up nothing in terms of engine performance, the frame and the chassis area as a whole got people talking. Something didn’t work—or perhaps it did; a failed project or untapped potential. In short: across social media and even various outlets, everyone voiced their opinion.

Even more so in recent weeks, as Dylan Ferrandis, signed by the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing team for the 2026 AMA season (Supercross, Motocross, and SuperMotocross), made some particularly interesting statements. “The Ducati’s frame is the best I’ve ever ridden,” said the former National 450cc Champion with two 250cc Supercross titles to his name.

The French motocrosser has developed a refined palate over the years. He spent three seasons on the benchmark Yamaha in 450cc, then moved over the past two years to the Phoenix Honda team with direct HRC support in the second half of the 2026 Supercross season, somewhat covering for the injured Lawrence brothers. In short: Ferrandis has ridden good bikes (Yamaha YZF450F and Honda CRF450R), so an opinion like this carries weight.

Debating the opinion of a top-level rider like Dylan Ferrandis is of limited use. Certainly, at this moment he was never going to speak ill of his new setup, but it’s also true that no one asked him to make such a high-impact statement. The litmus test will come in 2026 when, between the MXGP World Championship and the new venture overseas with TLD, Ducati will be close to a day of reckoning. Another year in which the Desmo450 MX, as well as the little sister Desmo250 MX making its debut, will remain under the spotlight in the world of knobby tires.