Rennie Scaysbrook | October 6, 2022
Ducati and Pirelli/Metzeler are two of the most famous companies in the international motorcycle scene, so we grabbed some time with Francesco Milicia and Salvo Pennisi to hear from them the state of the industry.
Photography by Marco Marini, Ducati.
In the international motorcycle industry, two Italians are held in extremely high regard—Ducati’s Vice President of Global Sales, Francesco Milicia, and Pirelli’s Head of Global Testing & Technical Relation, Salvo Pennisi.
We caught up with the two power players on a recent trip to Iceland as part of the Dainese Expedition Masters tour, in which Ducati and Pirelli/Metzeler were both commercial partners. When you get a chance to chat with these powerhouses, you don’t pass it up.
Tell us about the commercial collaboration between Pirelli/Metzeler and Ducati.
Francesco: We are really proud to represent some Italian excellence. We feel also the pride, but the responsibility of it. It’s something that is part of the DNA of Ducati.
Of course, Pirelli is the sole supplier we use for the complete range of Ducati motorcycles. There are not many other manufacturers that decided to use only one brand, or even Brembo for the brakes, just mentioning another Italian brand of excellence. These companies are always striving for state-of-the-art technology.
In this, Pirelli really supports us a lot. It’s a choice because in the end, it’s also a cost for the company. But, we had no doubt in always having the best solution in terms of tires, the best solution in terms of brakes, suspension and electronics.
Ducati is also the only manufacturer now that has all the motorcycles in the range with Cornering ABS. This is a company philosophy to prioritize the customer’s safety as a commercial strategy because Cornering ABS is expensive. Sometimes people even prefer to have the bike a little bit less expensive, but without the Cornering ABS. We believe the mission of Ducati has to be to provide a model line with various types of specifications and performance, of course, but the best performance in braking, for example, or the best grip with the tires that is available. I’m more than happy to support this kind of cooperation.
Salvo: I would add also for Pirelli, the partnership with Ducati is an enormous opportunity for our young engineers. They grow up very, very fast, because the confidence, the level of technology that Ducati is developing, is helping us a lot to stay in this global competition. Ducati is a very demanding company. If you are a little bit less than the best, then you are not with them. So, for us, this partnership is very important because it’s the fuel for our research, for our development, and our young engineers are taking this opportunity to grow.
Are there a lot of people that want to come and work for Pirelli and develop the new technologies for the next generation of motorcycles?
Salvo: Yes. The Pirelli name is of course very well-known in Italy. Many young engineers, many universities are attracted by Pirelli. We have many opportunities to decide who can work for us or not. They are really interested to the philosophy of Pirelli, but as well, Ducati is giving them an opportunity to develop their careers. So, of course, this is a period of big change. For young engineers, a company like Ducati, like Pirelli, provide big opportunities. It’s also great for the universities. We have a strong cooperation with a lot of important universities.
Francesco: It’s a dual system. The student can do the school and work with us, especially in the summer. But there is a lot of cooperation with the university. We all work within the Motor Valley, which is the manufacturing home for many great Italian brands. There are no other places in the world where you have Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducati, Imola, Misano, all in the range of 200 kilometers.
Tell us about the evolution of Ducati over the last 20 years
Francesco: I have been in the company since 1999 when I started as a young engineer. At that time the company was owned by Texas Pacific Group and, among many positive things they implemented, they had the wisdom to leverage young and international pool of talents.
Nevertheless, during the years of 2003-2004 we lost a bit the focus on the product, but thanks especially to the strong leadership of Claudio Domenicali that took over R&D and Product Development of the production bikes, on top of Ducati Corse that he was already managing, we started a positive trend that is still lasting.
Since 2012, we have been part of Audi VW Group, and I have to say, I couldn’t image better shareholder: they are leaving the autonomy and Italian flavor to the company, providing financial stability and they have a long-term approach common to the German culture.
And we still continue to keep a lot of young professionals and engineers. The average age of the board of the company is also very young, especially for Italy. I think this is a value of the company.
We are working now with passionate suppliers that are always available to support our new ideas in product development, or our activity on the track at the races. But we also have dealers that are very passionate, plus collectors. These all combine to make what we call Ducatista. We have every year the global dealer conference, soon in Sardinia, where we meet all the dealers and we share with them, listen also their advice, and work on the strategy of the company.
But now even with the customer, we talk more and more. We are in close contact with them. We invite them to participate in the events of the company. The confirmation of it has been the last World Ducati Week in Misano, which was the best ever.
World Ducati Week this year was massive.
Francesco: Yes, the passion was incredible. We had also some new content, because the off-road section is bigger, and all the new bikes were tested. We had a specific event, like the Race of Champions, that was unbelievable. There is no other manufacturer that puts all their riders on a track one against the other—it’s very risky!
We have been able to leverage this special event to take care of our top customers, because only the top customers have been able to bid on the bike of their favorite rider after the event. This is something that gives us ideas for the future. More and more, we want to be a company that generates emotion, that creates experiences, more than just a motorcycle producer.
What about new technologies in tires, for example? We’re now seeing motorcycles that are being more and more connected. Tires obviously are better now than they have ever been. What do you think will be the next thing that we’ll see in terms of tire development for the next 10-20 years?
Salvo: For sure we will continue to use the standard development of the tires. That means continuing to develop new compounds, new material, new process and so on. The real new frontier for us will be to connect the tires with the motorcycle, to connect the tires with the safety system. We are calling this project Cyber Tires. We have a division inside our company that is called the Cyber Tires division.
It’s developing components inside the tires that will connect with the motorcycle, with the system of control of the motorcycle, and also our dream is it will connect with the safety system, like air bags and so on.
In our dream, our tire is a component that will inform the riding system of the motorcycle about the condition of the road, about the condition of grip of the tire itself, so that real-time information can be relayed to the motorcycle’s on-board system so it can best evaluate the setup.
Are you developing electric components within the tire?
Salvo: Yes, sensors. We are working with top industries in the sensor system development. Already in our car department, we have seen good results. The cooperation with McLaren is giving us very good results. Now we wanted to develop these technologies on the motorcycle. For sure, Ducati will be the first partner to who we will assist this kind of development, and Dainese also. Our concept is to have three excellent Italian companies combine their technologies.
How much of a development link is there still within racing? The Japanese manufacturers seem to be moving in a different direction. We’re seeing it happen with Suzuki pulling out of MotoGP.
Francesco: We have an obsession for the continuous improvement of the product. What better way than the races to continue this development and improve the product? You see how much Ducati is at the forefront for the new solution in the MotoGP and in Superbike, and how much of this we move in the product. The bikes that we are riding these days are the best example. The technology of MotoGP is not only on the Panigale or the Superbike, but the engineers that started the aerodynamics for the MotoGP are the same that improved the aerodynamics, the comfort in terms of wind protection, noise, cooling of the rider’s legs in the Multistrada we rode in Iceland. This is fantastic. This is also the reason why, for example, we are in Moto-E from 2023. We are sure there is no better gym for the brains of our engineers than to develop the best bike in Moto-E.
Will this project spawn a Ducati electric bike for the public?
Francesco: The technology is still too early to have a motorcycle that can guarantee the pleasure of riding, the performance, the range, the weight, that the Ducatisti expect. So, of course, we decided to invest in the Moto-E championship also in order to get some experience and improve also the product that we will sell on the roads.
But, this will not come tomorrow. I think we are talking at least five years from now. We are very open and we look for even different kinds of energy or power. We’ve investigated about the e-fuel. It’s very interesting. There is an issue on the availability, the quantity available.
When you produce e-fuels, you remove from the atmosphere the same amount of CO2. This seems that will become reality in the motorsports because you have less problem of quantity. But it’s very interesting to provide the performance and so on. Also, hydrogen is interesting for us.
What do you see as the main problem for electric motorcycles?
Francesco: The problem is the energy density. You have to increase how many watts you have available per kilo. At the moment, still the situation doesn’t look to have a motorcycling line with the handling and the range we want. 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of battery weight on a car is not a big issue, but 80 kilograms on top of the weight of your Multistrada… We couldn’t do a big tour like we did today with an electric bike.
What do you think will happen in the next decade or so in terms of high-performance motorcycles being used as everyday tools for the street? Is there still a place for these bikes?
Francesco: What we are experiencing is that you are right, the world is changing. But it’s increasing really a lot the percentage of riders that buy a Panigale for use on the track, or also as a collector. So, I think that we need to be aware that the world is changing. But anyway, if we continue to be so good that our products are anyway the best and the fastest in the comparatives and on the track or are perceived by Ducatisti as a piece of art that you can add to your private collection, we are very, very optimistic for the future.
By the way, the numbers are confirming. We are sitting, we just closed the first semester ever for the company, but we sit on the highest portfolio ever for the company. The demand of our current product is huge. We know that we have a great plan also to enlarge the portfolio of the product.
We would like Ducati to be an object of desire. I don’t want to say a masterpiece, but we would like to continue to raise the standard of our product.
Salvo: I think, for sure, the world is changing, but people have demonstrated they want freedom. They want to enjoy the freedom a motorcycle can bring. Covid was a benchmark to understand this. After Covid, after two years of pandemic, people were asking for freedom—they were buying motorcycles, they are buying Ducatis (and Pirellis!). They were buying a dream.
I think also the government will push in order to respect the ecology and so on, but the need for freedom will take our business to go maybe in some different direction to address development in a responsible way. I think what the motorcycle represents will not finish in a long time. What is better than to dream, to ride a motorcycle after one week of strong work?
Would Ducati then look at an entry-level bike for Ducati, like a Kawasaki Ninja 400, or KTM RC390? Would you make a 400cc Ducati for young people to gain entry to the brand?
Francesco: We are considering to different displacements, but I don’t like the world of “entry level.” It would be a Ducati, even with a different displacement, but we are not going to produce—other manufacturers decide maybe to delegate other manufacturers to produce (such as KTM’s subsidiary Bajaj producing the RC390). This is not what we want to do.
Remember that anyway Ducati is considered by many the Porsche, the Ferrari of the two-wheels. I think that like these two great brands are doing, we need to have respect of our brand and consider our motorcycle as the fulfillment of someone’s dream.
How do Pirelli and Metzeler maintain brand separation, especially when they essentially compete in the same space?
Salvo: Pirelli will maintain the allure of an Italian brand, which is very sporty, very fashion. Metzeler will be more German style. I think that our customer knows very well what Metzeler means and what Pirelli means.
This is our dream. This is our project in medium to long terms. Of course, in short terms, we are always trying to develop better and better tires to fulfill the needs of some important partners like Ducati in Original Equipment. We are passionate about developing new concepts of what a tire can do and we will push strongly on the direction of differentiation of the two brands.
Francesco: The philosophy between Metzeler and Pirelli is very interesting, also to describe some choices done in Ducati. We understood there is no one in fact who will put Ducati in second place in terms of style, design, passion and performance. But sometimes, especially in some countries, compared to maybe a German product, you must remove every kind of bias about the reliability of the Italian company.
This is the reason why since now 10 years, we put the quality and service as a first priority of Ducati. We take no prisoners. We selected and replaced all the suppliers that were not aligned with us on this zero-tolerance policy on quality. We made an incredible job on service in order to, just mention the digital maintenance or the survey about the customer satisfaction of everyone that used our service. We also increased dramatically the number of service points in the world.
Tell us about Ducati’s NFT [non-fungible token] program launched recently?
Francesco: We already made NFT with Californian company NFT PRO and Ripple on the Ripple blockchain. We presented, and we will go out with a drop shortly. So, stay tuned.
How does it work?
Francesco: I cannot say more.
What if you got Tamburini with the original sketch of a 999 to put into an NFT?
Francesco: I think it’s a good idea. We will think about it.CN