To hope to obtain the supreme title, Ducati must use the services of a World Champion. Thanks to subsidies from its owner Audi and the qualities of the technical team led by Luigi Dall'Igna, Jorge Lorenzo was chosen. L'highway towards triumph is wide open. Except that…
Except that Ducati has no right to fail. For what ? Because the bitter defeat experienced with Valentino Rossi is still in everyone's memory, and a second Berezina would be dramatic for Ducati, its reputation and its sales. A failure is a mistake. A second failure would be “a diabolical perseverance*” from which the Bologna brand would have the greatest difficulty recovering.
The first goal will be to not make the mistakes of the past again.. When Casey Stoner was World Champion in 2007, the contribution of Fillipo Preziosi (general manager of Ducati Corse from 2003 to 2013) was marginalized. When Valentino Rossi failed in 2011 and 2012, everything was blamed on Preziosi, who was sacked "for health reasons", which was adding insult to injury. However, the boss (Claudio Domenicali) is still the same in 2016, as are most of the racing department staff who work at the factory and who have changed little. There is no question here of the field operations teams, who often follow the pilot wherever he goes. It will also be interesting to see if his current technical manager Ramon Forcada will follow Jorge Lorenzo to the Reds, or if the Spanish driver will inherit the crew chief current work of Andrea Iannone, Marco Rigamonti, and his seven technicians, all Italian, including that of Öhlins.
Since Stoner and Preziosi, Bolognese has changed. Luigi Dall'Igna, defector from Aprilia, came to take charge of all operations, with the support of Audi. The German automobile group has a certain know-how in terms of engines, with of course Audi and Volkswagen, but also Bugatti, Lamborghini and Porsche. A few little Teutonic tips, and presto, the Desmosedici clearly finds itself the most powerful in MotoGP, without consuming or breaking more than the others. Ducati has a lot to do with colossal opposition like that of Honda and Yamaha, but the Italian manufacturer can count on the strike force of a group with gigantic power. For example, its turnover was 202,5 billion euros in 2014, compared to Honda's 106,5.
Dall'Igna will first have to deal with the two most important subjects : the adaptation of Lorenzo to the style of the Ducati, and of the Ducati to the style of Lorenzo. The Iberian has a very flowing, progressive, fine style (compared for example to Marc Marquez), to which the Yamaha is perfectly suited.
Will it be necessary to transform the Ducati into a Yamaha? This is doubtful, as proven by the attempt in this direction by Rossi and his technical team, while Stoner enjoyed success using the Ducati as it was.
But as much as Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez are capable of welding the right handle like crazy (like at the exit of the esse between Correntaio and Bucine for Marquez during the last lap of the GP), as much Lorenzo's immense talent rests on the precision of the gesture and its almost infinite repetitiveness. When Jorge goes ahead, adios amigos, the race is over. The Ducati is not yet cut out for this type of riding, but Gigi was able to provide Lorenzo with Aprilia 250s in his time which allowed him to win two world titles in 2006 and 2007, with 17 victories in 33 races. The Italian technician knows the style and needs of his future Spanish driver, and that will help because there will be pressure.
This pressure will be multifaceted. The many fans have been weaned from victory for too long. THE Ducatists people all over the world are impatiently waiting to be able to affix a small self-adhesive laurel wreath to their tank or fairing. Audi did not throw a truckload of euros into the fight to finish second.
And finally last pressure, the worst: everyone in Bologna already hears Rossi's sneers in case of failure.
* " Errare humanum est, perseverare diabolicum ". To err is human, to persevere is diabolical.
