Manufacturers in MotoGP are there for one reason only: brand awareness. Being able to show the skills of your organisation and have these associated with winning and success are huge benefits to brands. No team is more conscious of this than Ducati.
Racing is just one part of the Ducati brand marketing plan, a plan which also includes the Corse sub-brand for performance parts on the bikes, movie and TV product placements as well as traditional media and digital advertising. Let?s not kid ourselves, they don?t go racing because it?s fun (although it is). They go racing because it sells motorbikes.
The arrival of Rossi was a massive coup for Ducati. An Italian winner on an Italian bike ? the dream team that many MotoGP fans, including me, wanted to see. The decision made by Ducati on the arrival of Rossi was to focus development on the radical carbon fibre chassis in the MP11. After all, Rossi and Burgess are legends in tuning and setting up motorbikes of any form. Their racing knowledge and input is invaluable to the development of the motorcycle, and the education of the team in how to make this new development work.
Work it must, as Ducati has effectively bet their house on making it work. The cost of development of the MP11 and MP12, along with Rossi?s ample salary, has meant the official factory team in Word Superbike has bitten the dust. At first sight this is madness. World Superbike racing bikes are much closer to stock road bikes than the prototypes we see in MotoGP. Punters watching the race can head down to their Ducati dealership and pick up a bike which is closely related to the one they have just seen lapping a track, spinning up the rear wheel, and celebrating in Parc Ferme. They can buy a slice of that success. They cannot go out and buy an MP11 (not that anyone would want to on the performance in 2011), not are they likely to be able to buy an MP12. So why kill the closer relation to the bikes you actually sell?
In a smart move, they haven?t. The Althea Ducati team, while not a factory team, are heavily supported by the factory, and have been reasonably successful. There is still a link to the road, although more tenuous than before. What this move has done is drastically reduce the cost of having the Ducati name in Superbike, the majority of the cost being borne by the sponsors.
This also allows the focus of the factory to be MotoGP, and the brilliance of Prezioso to be fully realised. The radical carbon fibre chassis, stressed airbox and carbon fibre swingarm is new territory. Ducati are pushing the envelope in the design and build of motorcycles, whether racing or not. This has to be one of the factors which brought Rossi to them: the opportunity to be at the leading edge of the technology of motorcycles. Ducati are trying to do what another brans, Apple, do so well ? innovate their products before anyone else has the chance to step in: look at the evolution of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, a relentless yearly refresh and renewal of all three consumer electronics product lines.
While the world of motorcycle development moves more slowly, the same principle still applies. Ducati?s plan has to be to bring this chassis configuration to it?s top line of road/race bikes. It is the only way for them to make a return on the massive investment in the development of the MotoGP bike. Recent advances in the manufacture and mass production of carbon fibre parts mean the way this material is used is changing. Ducati aren?t waiting for another manufacturer to come up with a technological leap to then follow. Like Apple they are innovating in order to make their own product obsolete. It is the only way to stay ahead.
Traditionally, carbon fibre has been used as a metal replacement, being strong and light. It is not used in stress situations because the way in which it is made means it is strong in one plane only. Stress it on any other plane and it will break quite easily. Advancements in the way carbon fibre is made and can be mass-produced, mean that it now being seen on top end road cars where the driver cell is being formed entirely of carbon fibre. These advances mean it is now economically viable to use this material not just as a weight-saving measure but also as a lighter alternative to an alloy chassis. This is the route Ducati are going with the MP11 and MP12 and in time with its road bikes. The mass production of these parts is key to keep the cost within reasonable levels for the road market.
This year is a development year for the 800cc MP11, that much is clear. The MP12 will be 1000cc, and the stakes will be higher than ever before on the success of this bike. The MP12 must succeed on two different levels: it must win races, and it must deliver a link to the road bikes that Ducati produce. Ultimately, in order for the big bet Ducati have placed to come off, we must see this carbon fibre chassis on the road. The alternative for Ducati is unthinkable: they could lose the house.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/motogpblog/postfeed/~3/1xPoTIKoBus/1231
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