The partnerships are really what defines this, Troy Lee Designs and Factory Connection. Talk about how those things came about. Ducati didn’t say, we’ve got this on our own. You’ve reached out to some very knowledgeable folks.
Yeah, I mean we know that we need to learn a lot, especially supercross is a very different discipline to motocross, what we know better in Europe and you know, during the past few years, we’ve been in touch with many, many people here. But talking to Ziggy and then to Troy, we found that they were sharing the same kind of vision. The same, I would say dream to try to bring Ducati to success. Also, in supercross, and with the expertise from Ziggy and the group of people he’s been able to put together, has been instrumental to being able now to be at Anaheim 1. And obviously thanks to Troy, has been also instrumental and a great partner to make this happen. When they asked me a couple of years ago, I said, maybe Supercross ‘27. Now we are in supercross in ‘26. So, I think the hard work that has been done in the past year is now coming to the show. I mean, yeah, it’s going to be exciting. Also, maybe it will be very nervous. The first race is going to be the first race. So far, we think we reached a good level. But until you are behind the gate, you never know exactly what to expect. And let’s say we expect to do Anaheim one in a kind of smooth way, and then there will be another 16 races to go.
I’m glad you mentioned the ‘27 versus ‘26 thing. When a team shows up at Anaheim, everyone’s going to look ready. But there must have been some stressful moments, especially that you’ve sped the process up a little bit.
Yeah, actually, you know, when we meet with Troy and with Ziggy at Austin MotoGP I said, ‘Okay, let’s kind of decide if we can go racing or not around the end of July, because obviously, if we’re not competitive, it’s no point in Ducati racing one year earlier than we expected.’ But I must say that the intense work that has been done has proven to be successful up to the point. And then we decided, ‘Okay, let’s take maybe a little bit of risk and let’s go racing ’26,’ because I think it was the right time, I know with Troy and the partners of the team and so on. So, you know, well, it was a stressful moment, a kind of brave decision from all the parties involved. But here we are, and we’re happy to be taking part in the 2026 Supercross championship.
Main image courtesy of Ducati