Coming up at RedBud: Antonio Cairoli to race on the Ducati Demo450 in the USA

Nine-time world champion Antonio Cairoli is now 40 years old, but the Italian legend is still keeping fit. In July, the Sicilian will compete in three rounds of the US Nationals on the Ducati Desmo450: RedBud, Southwick and Spring Creek. At Southwick, he will also come up against MXGP World Championship leader Lucas Coenen, who has also announced his participation there.

Cairoli confirmed the news on social media: “Let’s get back to racing,” he commented: “This is my summer racing schedule!”

Cairoli and the Desmo450 MX

The Ducati Desmo450 has been making headlines quite frequently of late. Jeremy Seewer’s departure from the Ducati Corse works team and a striking number of crashes have accompanied the Desmo450 MX’s appearances. Although Calvin Vlaanderen managed to make his mark again with a 4th-place finish in the first race at Montevarchi, he too was unable to get through the weekend without crashing. The South African crashed on Saturday during the qualifying race. For the Ducatisti, fourth place was their best result of the 2026 season so far. In the US, Dylan Ferrandis took a heavy tumble during qualifying at High Point last weekend and later crashed again in the race, though this time through no fault of his own. His team-mate Justin Barcia is struggling with back and knee problems. Antonio Cairoli got on well with the Desmo450, which he helped to develop, right from the start, but Cairoli is and always will be an exceptional rider, a once-in-a-century talent. We can look forward with great anticipation to seeing how the Sicilian star, aged 40, will fare in the US against Jett and Hunter Lawrence, Haiden Deegan and Lucas Coenen.

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