Ducati returned to Mantova, where their adventure in the world of motocross of the Desmo450 MX began a year ago, and completed a solid day of racing in extreme conditions, bringing the bikes of Jeremy Seewer and Mattia Guadagnini to the finish line in both motos.
With the 5th and 6th best lap times at the end of the timed practice session, Seewer and Guadagnini lined up in strong positions for the start of a difficult first heat, held on a track flooded by heavy rain that fell overnight at the "Tazio Nuvolari" circuit. Having started in third position, Seewer rode a smart and measured race to finish in 5th place, while Mattia claimed 8th following an impressive recovery after a problem that slowed him down at the start. At the beginning of race two, Jeremy started behind his teammate, in sixth position, but managed to find a good pace, despite the worsening track conditions, and passed under the chequered flag in 4th after thirteen laps to finish ahead of Guadagnini, who fought hard until the last corner, even though he was without his goggles from the halfway point. At the end of the day's racing, Seewer finished 4th overall and Guadagnini took 6th to mark a valuable first hit-out of the season on the Desmo450 MX.
Jeremy Seewer: "Honestly, it was a challenging way to start the year in this mud, but we still used it as good training and a great test for the bike. We needed to see where we are in those conditions, because they're super tough and the bike is new, and we did, so that’s a huge positive. Also from my side, I'm in a happy place. I found out if I start well, I'm there on the start, so that's already super positive against all those bikes that have been around for a long time. I also found out I can ride free and play with the bike in the race. I feel really good on the bike and we have a lot of potential.”
Mattia Guadagnini: “The first one went well and I’m happy. Today, the result didn’t matter much, given how extreme the conditions were, which meant we weren’t able to evaluate anything really. But I’m happy to have started and we have a great adventure ahead of us. It was a bit of a late start to the season with the physical preparation, so I want to use these races to be more ready for the MXGP World Championship. I feel good with the bike, we worked well, it was just a shame about the bad luck with the goggles and the start in the first moto. But I still had fun. Hopefully the conditions are better next weekend, in order to have some more references to continue me and the team’s preparations for the start of the MXGP season.”
