SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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AT THE CROSSROADS HERO Racing Signs With Ducati For 2026, Focused On Grabbing The 1X Plate By Larry Saavedra After suffering a life-changing motorcycle incident in Baja in 2022, multiple SCORE Pro Moto Champion, Giovanni Spinali, was at a crossroads in his long career. While recuperating from his injuries, which included 18 broken bones and five weeks in the hospital that required three surgeries, Spinali thought long and hard about what comes next. He had spent his entire life racing motorcycles on the toughest terrains, and it was difficult to say goodbye. But he also knew he was lucky to be alive. Admittedly, he had a huge decision to make. “Originally I was a rider for HERO Racing riding Hondas, and then I had my big injury at the SCORE Baja 1000,” he said. “I decided to stop riding, but I didn’t want to become only a spectator.” Spinali says, there were a lot of sponsors that wanted to continue to support HERO Racing. “I decided to invest my time, energy and money into the management of HERO Racing in a principal role. The effort led to the 2024 Championship with Arturo Salas Jr. and Ciaran Naran as primary riders. After losing the championship in 2025, Spinali focused on a new team with Naran as rider of record, and Lyndon Snodgrass as co-rider. “We also had with an opportunity for the team to race with Ducati, thanks to Malcolm Smith Motorsports,” he added. During the 2026 season, HERO Racing is chasing the 1X plate in SCORE Pro Moto Unlimited class with the new Ducati Desmo450 MX and his two upcoming young riders are already proving their worth. The move to Ducati came to fruition after the lack of serious support they had seen in the past from Honda. Spinali looked at Ducati with something to prove. HERO Racing’s past achievements could very well bring the Ducati brand to a place it’s never been before, namely a SCORE Championship. Spinali says the performance potential of the much talked about Desmo450 XM is interesting because it’s essentially a motocross platform. “We had to make some parts for this new Ducati because nothing in the aftermarket is available yet,” he said. HERO Racing team riders Naran and Snodgrass are key players in this year’s return. At the SCORE San Felipe 250 they placed second in class on the 3X Ducati, and they are preparing for the upcoming SCORE Baja 500. “It’s a lot of work,” says Spinali. “Making sure all the sponsors are happy and finding new ones. We’re working toward a fully funded program and that takes time.” Riders With An Uphill Battle “It’s a tough situation for these riders because many are at an age where they can’t make a bunch of money racing dirt bikes, and they have to balance between racing and a regular job,” says Spinali. “I tried to explain to my previous riders of the opportunity they had with HERO Racing and unfortunately I had to make changes. There are no hard feelings. It’s just how it is with racing.” Naran was on last year’s team, while the newer addition to the team, Snodgrass, is a 28-year-old GNCC champion from Australia, who moved out West to race. Troy Lee Designs and Precision Concepts are the latest sponsors of HERO Racing’s efforts. Optima Batteries, Method Wheels, Malcolm Smith Motorsports, FMF Racing, and Motul are rallying behind the team as well. Twenty-five-year-old Naran says he started riding motorcycles at four years old and is excited about racing with HERO Racing. “I turned professional in 2019 and made the transition into desert racing,” he said. “My first Baja race was five years ago at the SCORE Baja 500 in the Pro Moto Unlimited class.” Naran says his father has been very supportive of his efforts and actually preps the team bikes for HERO. “He moved to America from New Zealand and has worked with some big-name racers in a lot of team roles in the past,” Naran said. “The new Ducati is a completely different bike to the Honda,” he added. “I’ve raced Honda professionally for the past several years, but I never really felt 100 percent on it. The move to the Ducati has been really good. The Ducati is a motocross style bike, but some of our sponsors are creating the parts we need to competitively race Baja. The 449.6cc single-cylinder motor in the Desmo450 XM is awesome.” Naran says he’s focusing on how to transform the Desmo from being a motocross bike to a desert racing platform. “There’s a lot of chassis research and development being done,” he said. “The factory Brembo brakes are incredible and the clutch system in the Desmo is superior to the Honda. It’s hard to beat the kind of components that Ducati has included in this bike straight from the factory.” Snodgrass agrees that the Ducati has loads of potential for Baja. “I raced a lot of GNCC and desert events back home in Australia with big name Japanese bike manufacturers. It’s not endurance riding like in Mexico, but similar in other aspects. I have to keep myself in top physical shape to race Baja, and I do a lot of cycling, nearly every day, for cardio performance. You can’t slack off if you’re going to race the kind of miles that you see in Baja.” Snodgrass is looking forward to the SCORE Baja 500. He says he’s doing as much riding on the Ducati as possible to prepare for it. Through sheer talent, reaching the podium with Naran at the SCORE San Felipe 250 (second place in class), was the first time he raced in Baja. “I’ve raced a lot of different motorcycles in Australia and this Desmo has a really unique feel to it, unlike the Japanese bikes in terms of chassis balance and weight. It has lots of power when you need it most.” As the HERO Racing team prepares for the SCORE Baja 500 Spinali stays behind the scenes putting the finishing touches on his newly created website, which is part of his race team business plan. The name HERO stands for helping everyone reach out,” says Spinali. “We do lots of charity work in Mexico and that will be a part of this team moving forward. When we first started giving back 12 years ago, we worked with sponsors that would help us help many orphans with injuries. We have continued to work with orphanages that are struggling in Mexico. It was difficult to identify organizations that weren’t just funding themselves and leaving little to the children. But lately, we’ve been working with Casa Hogar Canon and it’s the perfect alliance.” For those interested in helping HERO Racing’s charity efforts you can reach out directly to Spinali at www.heroracing.org. They are a 501-c3 non-profit. SJ