Retired Cairoli and Ducati Win in Italy

The Ducati Desmo450 MX dominated the fourth round of the Italian Pro-Prestige MX1 Motocross Championship thanks to wins for Alessandro Lupino and Tony Cairoli. The eight-time Italian Champion conquered the red plate reserved for the leader of the classification, giving the Desmo450 MX its first overall victory, while the nine-time world champion contributed to another memorable chapter in the history of Ducati Corse Offroad with a victory in race 1 on his debut riding the Borgo Panigale bike.

In the first heat, on extremely difficult track conditions due to the heavy rain that fell since the early hours of the morning, Lupino and Cairoli took the lead thanks to a perfect start which saw them go into the first corner in first and second position. The two riders led the race, alternating in the lead for seven laps, at the end of which the stewards displayed the red flag due to the prohibitive weather conditions. The classification, frozen at the end of the previous lap, therefore, saw Cairoli as the winner ahead of Lupino.

The second heat saw a repeat of the lightning-fast start of the Ducati riders, with Lupino ahead of Cairoli. The race revolved around a battle between the two, and at the end Alessandro Lupino narrowly prevailed, thus scoring the second victory of the day for the Ducati Off-Road team and the Desmo 450 MX. Alessandro's first and second place allowed him to conquer the overall ranking of the day, and also powered him to the top of the championship standings, with two races remaining. Lupino also won the Holeshot award.

The extreme conditions of the track during the first heat, and Tony's participation in the Ponte a Egola race allowed Ducati engineers to collect more valuable data for the development of the Desmo450 MX, with a view to entering production in 2025.

The next round of the Italian Motocross Championship is scheduled from August 31st to September 1st on the Castiglione del Lago (PG) track. After a short holiday break in the next few days, Alessandro Lupino and Tony Cairoli will resume an intense testing program in the months of July and August.

Josh Mosiman...Why I Switched from 350 to 450

Toni Bou Maintains TrialGP Stranglehold

Toni Bou was once again unstoppable with the seventeen time World Champion claiming a pair of wins for the weekend.

The sublime Toni Bou extended his win streak in the elite TrialGP class to four victories from four starts with a dominant display on day two of the TrialGP of Andorra – round two of the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship.

Early rain made conditions treacherous on the opening lap, but as the sections started to dry out Bou shifted up a gear and demonstrated exactly why he has won the title for an astonishing seventeen consecutive seasons as he staged a Trial masterclass on the virtually sheer mountain slopes studded with towering rocks.

Although several sections were modified to take into account the rain that began to fall just as the TrialGP competitors set off from Sant Julià de Lòria in the morning, Bou’s first lap total of eighteen – six more than his opening lap score on Saturday – was a clear indication that the going was still tough.

When wet the rocks in the Pyrenean principality become notoriously slippery, a problem that is amplified when mud is dragged onto them. However, Bou took the challenging conditions in his stride and incurred just one maximum on his first lap on the severe rocky climbs of section eleven to open up a clear twelve-mark lead over Jaime Busto at the halfway stage.

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Best of the rest was French rider Benoit Bincaz on forty, but competition for the final podium position was close with just seven marks separating third from seventh with Spanish stars Gabriel Marcelli, Adam Raga and Miquel Gelabert all in contention along with Italy’s Matteo Grattarola.

With the sections rapidly drying, conditions eased in the afternoon – although Bou’s faultless second lap was nothing short of remarkable and the thirty-seven-year-old Spaniard, who now calls Andorra home, punched the air with delight as he rolled out of the final section of the day with an impressive twenty-mark winning margin.

“It has been a very positive weekend for us,” Bou reflected on his perfect weekend. “We arrived in Andorra with a lot of confidence and everything went very well. We always work to achieve these good results, but we rarely manage to do it. I am very happy with the points and above all with everything about my performance this weekend. After these four very important races for us, at Honda’s ‘home’ round and now at my second home, we are going to Italy with a very good feeling. We will try to continue in the same way. It will be tough but we have maximum confidence and we will try to achieve the best possible result.”

Gabriel Marcelli went 2-3 for the weekend and maintain his second place in the championship standings.

Just like yesterday, Marcelli was again forced into a game of catch-up following his high-scoring opening lap and the twenty-four-year-old once again did not disappoint as he dropped his score to eight at his second attempt. However, unlike yesterday the gap to Busto was too great to close and when his compatriot also posted a second lap total of eight Marcelli had to settle for third, matching his finishes at last month’s opening round in Japan.

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium again!” Busto said. “There were some really tough sections, so I didn’t have the best feeling on the bike, but I’m really motivated for the rest of the season. Day two was incredible! I started off really strong, even though I made a few mistakes on the first lap, but my second lap was great. I’m so happy to have finished second!”

With two wins for the weekend Toni Bou continues to lead the overall standings with 80 points

Marcelli was happy with his weekend of a second and a third despite the conditions not being to his liking.

“Today went quite well, even though on the first lap I didn’t feel completely comfortable,” Marcelli said. “The ground was quite wet and I was skidding a lot, in conditions that are not my strong suit. But luckily on the second lap, the sun came out and the zones dried out a bit. We gave it everything and we achieved a third position which is very important for the championship. I hope to continue like this during the season and I want to thank the team.”

Adding twelve more marks to his total on lap two, veteran Adam Raga ended the day two positions higher than on Saturday in fourth with Grattarola climbing to fifth as Bincaz slipped to eighth.

The action from the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship continues next weekend (14-16 June) with the TrialGP of Italy at Valsassina.

450 Highlights Thunder Valley

What Didn't Happen At Thunder Valley Motocross

Jason Weigandt walks and talks after a wild day both on and off the track at the Toyota Thunder Valley National in Colorado, round three of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship for 2024. From Jett Lawrence's super deep dig to get the overall win in the 450 class, to Chase Sexton's crazy day, to Haiden Deegan and Tom Vialle's epic battle and Chance Hymas' first career moto win, this day had it all. There's probably more in store for High Point, too!

Thunder Valley National 250 Class Highlights

Herlings Is Back!

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jeffrey Herlings has scored his 104th Grand Prix victory with a 1-3 performance at the MXGP of Latvia, although while he gets the GP win, Tim Gajser finished with 2-2 results for second overall, so very few points gained for the Dutchman. Jorge Prado finished with 7-1 for third overall. Gajser takes the red plate to Maggiora next week.

Championship points are now Tim Gajser 454 points, Jorge Prado 450pts, Jeffrey Herlings 386pts. So, Gajser with a four points lead over Prado and Herlings some 68 points back. Had he not had that mechanical issue in a round, he would be a lot closer.

Jeffrey Herlings: “It was last time I was here, 103 here and now 104 here. Twice with good starts and I could follow them until the end. Good riding, 1-3 and lets keep building from here, lets go. I mean, after yesterday I was driving to the hotel and asked myself what I am doing, but I wanted to show people I can still ride a bit. I didn’t have the pace early in that second moto, but I did catch them, just didn’t have the speed to pass them.”

Jett...My Legs Were Gone!

Barcia's Day

Justin Barcia: "Thunder Valley was a pretty good day! I qualified decent in the top 10, which I wasn't thrilled about, but it was okay. I got off to two good starts, charged really hard all day, and the bike was really good. We made a change after the second practice and it was really consistent, so I was able to adapt to different lines today and felt comfortable. We came away with a solid fourth, so it's good. We want more, so we're going to keep pushing, and we'll get there soon!"

Chase comments

In wearing the red plates on his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION for the first time outdoors and coming off a victory at Hangtown, Chase Sexton displayed his front-running pace once again, but track position and a heavy crash while looking to take charge of Moto 2 resulted in 6-5 scores for fifth overall. He currently sits second in the standings, six points from the series lead following Round 3.

Chase Sexton: “It was nice to have the red plate today, and I felt like we had speed on our side, but it just didn’t come together in the motos. Considering the results, we’re still right there in the championship, so look forward to rebounding at High Point next weekend.”