An Italian clay: Jeremy Seewer on moulding Ducati’s imminent MXGP factory push. “I think we can win some podiums this year…”
Two pre-season Italian races, more tests and then into the ‘deep end’ for Ducati and their virgin MXGP team for 2025. Is the Desmo450 MX in decent shape? We asked…
By Adam Wheeler. Photos by Ducati Corse
Jeremy Seewer, Switzerland’s best MXGP rider with six consecutive top four premier class championship finishes (three times as runner-up), sounds chirpy. In contrast to the limitations from his one-season stint with Kawasaki last year where he cut a frustrated figure, shackled by inability to change the KX450F to his liking, the 30-year-old is embracing his tall order as the pointman for the Italian ‘rookies’ in Grand Prix and from within the confines of Marco Maddii’s team.
Seewer has effectively relocated to a residence near the team’s workshop close to the Montevarchi circuit (host of the 2003 Italian Grand Prix). After spells with Suzuki, Yamaha and then Kawasaki, the Maddii operation represents his fifth team in a decade-long career where he has set the record for the highest amount of consecutive GP appearances and where an 8th place (his debut MXGP term) is his lowest ever rank in the standings.
Maddii had spent 2024 working on the evolution of the production Desmo450 MX with test riders Alessandro Lupino and Tony Cairoli and fared well in Italian domestic competition where Lupino unsurprisingly triumphed, although the Grand Prix wildcards in Holland and Spain with both riders in each outing were less encouraging as technical issues with the glamourous bikes reminded all curious onlookers at Arnhem and Cozar that the red project was still much green. The graft with Seewer this winter has accelerated the process to make the factory version more of a competitive package come the start of the 20-round series in Argentina on the first weekend of March. The rider himself, who is accompanied by Mattia Guadagnini - the Italian on the threshold of his third attempt at MXGP after two injury-cursed campaigns – is not only revelling in the open canvas of the Ducati initiative but also the tighter team dynamic and links with the Ducati Corse race department.
“This is a bigger project than just wanting results,” he said over the phone from Italy. “We’re starting from zero and I know I have been hired to develop a bike, to lead and give a direction. I know I will need a lot of patience. It is way-different for me…but I’m enjoying my riding with the bike and I enjoy the people I am working with.”
“In previous years I would be looking for the perfect pre-season and perfect preparation, with the knowledge that my bike would be more or less ready: this was a clear factor. It was also why I was frustrated last year with the green bike because it never quite worked for me, for one reason or another. Now, it’s a different situation.”
The Desmo450 MX is a curious beast. The production motorcycle will be an expensive, premium model, meaning that the Showa-equipped factory incarnation is even more exotic, especially for the Desmotronics. Seewer insists that the machine has the power but there are other areas to refine.
“I’m impressed with what Ducati came up with from scratch; we’re talking about a manufacturer with no experience [in motocross],” he said. “It would have been easy to copy someone, or follow the Japanese, but it’s not like that. The bike has a different character, for sure. It doesn’t feel like a Suzuki or a Yamaha. The Desmo engine means we can play a lot with power delivery and there is a lot! Compared to the Japanese bikes it is a different mentality. From the stock engine I knew we didn’t need a lot more to be able to run in GPs. We haven’t made crazy modifications. By no means is the bike perfect yet; there are many new things still to come together.”
“From day one the engine was very good; powerful, but in an easy way and in terms of getting it on the ground,” Maddii said in a separate call, made only minutes before Ducati presented Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez at the Pala Campiglio. “There haven’t been many issues but we’re still working to improve certain parts of the curve and optimise the base. The riders requested the same thing and that’s even more torque and bottom end. The mid-to-top is very good.”
Jeremy and I spoke just before the second round of 2025 AMA Supercross and where his friends, Jett and Hunter Lawrence seemed to be having difficulty with the Honda CFR450R. I asked what he thought…and then to compare to his own predicament. “It looks like they are struggling in the whoops and with rear traction but that’s the Honda chassis they have and they won’t be able to change it,” he offered. “It’s different for us. Ducati are listening and are very keen to fix any issues. We still need to refine the suspension, linkage and swingarm. Basically, get the frame and suspension with a better balance because Showa don’t have experience or history with this particular package. It will take a little time.”
“We’ve made good steps with the chassis,” Maddii said. “Ducati is very new to the sport and the bike is new to the demands of racing but they are listening and they are working, and their department for this project is growing.”
Ducati are world champions in MotoGP and are the dominant force on the grid with six of the 22 bikes. They also continue to pump their red superiority through the main vessels of WorldSBK, despite BMW’s usurp in 2024, with more competitive machinery. Ducati Corse has become a reference in engineering innovation, from devices to aerodynamics and electronics. The last field was celebrated at Madonna di Campiglio for the MotoGP launch where the team’s use of AI to accelerate data crunching and simulations in conjunction with title sponsor Lenovo was explained. It could be a sector where MXGP could also profit, especially as the team will be officially backed by the same Italian IT brand as SBK: Aruba.it. “There hasn’t been anything too crazy yet…but they are already at the same level as the others and that’s impressive,” Seewer assesses. “The next steps will be with modifications that nobody else has. Two technicians came to the test track the other day, from MotoGP or World Superbike, and they had that ‘Albert Einstein’ look. We were working on fuel and mappings and they were so smart; we made one change and I’d never experienced such a big positive leap forward in one go.”
Seewer’s toils have veered in a different ‘line’ from the input Cairoli and Lupino were providing. “The hours Tony and Alessandro made on the Ducati helped move it along but then we’ve worked more on the race bike development.”
“In 2024 the focus was more for the stock bike rather than the factory version for MXGP we have now,” Maddii affirms.
Regardless of the results to come in 2025 Ducati will certainly gather more than its fair share of attention. The image-conscious brand will divert eyeballs purely because of the exclusivity; nevermind the attractive aesthetic of the bike itself. The Italian connection is something that Seewer’s teammate, Guadagnini, might feel more acutely but Jeremy has already had a taste of the interest: “There is a lot of hype and it’s cool to be a part of it. I’ve been to tracks and had some attention when people see you are a factory rider…but pushing a Ducati out of the van means it is on another level. It’s cool to see people so fascinated by it and so passionate about it.”
For Maddii it is the third ‘dance’ with a homegrown firm. The team won European honours with Fantic and helped the Treviso company with their introduction to MXGP two years ago before being swayed by Ducati. Going back further, Marco’s dad, Corrado, was the initial helmsman of Aprilia’s ill-fated twin-cylinder in the mid-00s. “Ducati is a big brand and an Italian brand and it’s a big deal to have them in the workshop and for us to have been there from day one,” Marco says. “The Aprilia deal was completely different [for circumstances]. When my Dad signed the contract he did not know the full brief from the technical side and when the project was confirmed and developed I think he was quite surprised by the plan. Ducati was different. We’ve been involved from the beginning and I think that is really important.”
Hype, positivity, family environments: staple pre-season fodder from the hopeful. Taking into consideration this optimism, what outlook does Seewer have for 2025? “We are not 100% and it will take some time but I expect that we can be battling for podiums,” he confides. “It’s not the perfect bike but I enjoy riding it and I’m happy and in control. It’s a contrast to last year where I was hating life. I see footage of me in 2024 and it’s like I’m a passenger. When you see me on the bike now it’s like I’ve grown 10cm!”
Growth: for both new projects and experienced, wizened heads, what more could you want?