Go behind the scenes with David Knight as he prepares the Desmo450 MX for their first race together at the Weston Beach Race

The Weston Beach Race, held earlier this month at Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, was the first race event where David Knight MBE got to ride the Desmo450 MX in anger. Unfortunately for ‘Knighter’, bad weather had caused the event to be cut to half of its normal three-hour duration, so the flag came out just as the three-time world champion enduro rider really gets into his stride. Despite this, David finished an impressive fifth on his first outing with Ducati’s first motorcross bike, also winning the over 40s category.

Watch below to see David get his first taste of the new Desmo450 MX bike during the UK launch event back in July, before preparing the bike for Weston. David takes delivery of a Desmo450 MX at Ducati UK’s Donington Park track day event in September, giving him less than 30 days to get the motorcross race-ready for the infamous beach event. 

David Knight MBE #809
Weston Beach Race – 5th
Over 40s Category - Winner
“The support I’ve had at the Weston Beach Race from fans has been unreal. Some people didn’t even know Ducati made a motocross bike, they do now!

When you look at Ducati in other disciplines, they dominate. So, you know with a company like that they are not going to go into it not wanting to win. They’re going to put effort in, and that what excites me.

The Desmo450 MX is in the top three bikes I’ve had at Weston, and I’ve only had the bike for two weeks! It means a hell of a lot to come with a Ducati here and give them a great result. And now I know what to do for next year. Going forward, we’ll have a really good shot of getting a podium. 

What I love about Ducati is that it’s a really good, close knit of people. They’re really keen, and it was their motivation that was pushing me on. That’s worth its weight in gold. I want to repay them, which hopefully I’ve done now with a decent result, and we’ll find another race to do now.”  

Learn more about the Desmo450 MX here.