Ducati’s underwhelming start: as in MotoGP, more doubts than positives in MX too

Ducati had a below-expectations start to the 2026 Motocross season... A bitter balance after the Argentina GP.

There’s a certain similarity with MotoGP in Ducati’s season opener in the Motocross World Championship. Expectations were certainly different, yet between unlucky episodes and a few issues, the Red squad leaves Argentina empty-handed and with sore riders from MXGP crashes, while in MX2 we can say that the stand-in for the injured Zanchi, absolute debutant Simone Mancini, did his part by consistently scoring points on the Desmo250 MX. In short, a subdued start, but the season is very long and everything is still to be written, even if Herlings above all, but also Vialle and Febvre, are already scary...

He’s just arrived at Ducati and the feeling still needs fine-tuning, but after a not-so-simple qualifying race, Andrea Bonacorsi made himself well noticed in both Sunday motos for his excellent launch off the line, which allowed him to immediately gain several positions and then set a strong pace, with the clear goal of trying to mix it up with the frontrunners. Unfortunately for him, the follow-up wasn’t great: on lap 6 of Race 1 he suffered a nasty crash, and in Race 2 he had to retire due to rib pain from that incident. A real pity, since the Bergamo native was well inside the top 10 on both occasions, and in fact was decisively targeting the top 5...

His starts, on the other hand, need definite improvement, but in the end Calvin Vlaanderen finished as top Ducati: 9th in qualifying, he was then the best again in Race 1, taking 8th at the checkered flag, while the third rider Jeremy Seewer got tangled in an early incident before climbing back to P17. Race 2 didn’t go better: Vlaanderen was on the ground on lap one, but luckily for him the race was red-flagged due to a gate problem and he could restart, though he had to grit his teeth through pain in his right leg that affected his run: in the “second race” he was 12th, a result worth 11th overall for the GP. As for Seewer, he took 17th again in the second moto. “There’s not much to say, we struggled,” admitted the 31-year-old Swiss at the end of his debut round with the Desmo450 MX.

Ferruccio Zanchi was the hope, but he was unfortunately KO just before the Argentina round due to a training crash. Ducati therefore had to rethink its goals, but it allowed Simone Mancini, a European 250 rider, to notch a great experience in the MX2 World Championship. In such a tight competition, miracles couldn’t be expected, but the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory rider brought home a decidedly positive weekend. He finished P18 in qualifying, then came the races and Mancini performed very well: great start, solid race pace, grabbing a fine 13th place in the first moto, while in the second only a technical issue in the last two laps kept him from aiming at the top 10, relegating him to a hard-fought 19th. Points in both motos, with a final result of 17th on his absolute debut in the World Championship category.

Positive comments from Ducati, while Simone Mancini, like a true racer, wanted a little more... “Doing my first World Championship race in Argentina was a great experience. It could have ended even better,” he said at the end of the weekend. “But I had a weekend of progression, from free practice to Race 2, improving every time. The track was demanding and physically it was very tough, because I’m not yet ready to do the World Championship’s 30-minute plus two laps motos, but I gritted my teeth to the end and I’m happy with my riding. Now we’ll keep preparing for the European Championship, always looking to improve.”