Paolo Ciabatti will work for Ducati’s newly founded motocross program and will be succeeded as Ducati Sporting Director by Mauro Grassilli
Ducati officially announced on Thursday that long-time sporting director Paolo Ciabatti will step down from his role with the MotoGP team to focus on the brand’s motocross program
Ciabatti was appointed Ducati’s Sporting Director in 2014, having previously served as Project Director of Ducati’s MotoGP program and Operations Manager of the Ducati factory team in the World Superbike Championship (WSBK). His position as Sporting Director of Ducati Corse in the Motorcycle World Championship will be taken over on January 1, 2024 by Mauro Grassilli, who previously worked as Marketing Director.
In future, Ciabatti will act as General Manager of Ducati’s new off-road department. The brand’s entry into motocross competition is currently being prepared there. Following the first appearances of the Ducati 450 in national races in Italy in 2024, the aim is to enter the Motocross World Championship and the US Supercross Championship in the following years.
Ciabatti’s move marks a second major change within the Ducati team for 2024, the first being that Massimo Bartolini, one of Gigi Dall’Igna’s most trusted engineers, has accepted an offer to become Yamaha’s Technical Director.
Despite the fact that he will be seen much less frequently at MotoGP races, Ciabatti will continue to work for Ducati in the road racing sector. He will coordinate the brand’s racing activities in MotoAmerica, the British Superbike Championship, the Japanese Superbike Championship, the Australian Superbike Championship and the CIV series in Italy.
Ciabatti has witnessed all of Ducati’s MotoGP titles to date, starting with Casey Stoner’s title win in 2007. The now 66-year-old Italian has been an important part of Ducati’s management structure for years. In the 2022 MotoGP season – 15 years after Stoner’s title – the Italian brand returned to the big time with Francesco Bagnaia as world champion.
The 2023 racing season, which recently came to an end, was an outstanding year for Ducati. In the MotoGP class, 17 of the 20 Grands Prix were won. Ducati riders – Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi – took the top three places in the Riders’ Championship. Ducati became world champion in the manufacturers’ championship, while Pramac-Ducati came out on top in the team classification. The brand also won the Superbike World Championship title for the second year in a row with Alvaro Bautista
