Ernesto Marinelli Talks About His History at Ducati

Ernesto Marinelli has been an almost ever-present force within Ducati’s World Superbike program for over two decades.

Last month the Italian announced that he would leave his role as Superbike Project Leader, but having enjoyed a hugely successful 22 years with the Italian manufacturer he will leave with a heavy heart.

Having joined Ducati fresh out of university as an engine technician, Marinelli was keen to prove his worth. He did this with an innovative approach to engine simulations, while working as an undergraduate, and quickly found his way into the Race Department, Ducati Corse.

It was not an easy decision then that he finally decided to move away from Ducati and onto a new chapter in his career.

“Ducati is an extraordinary company,” reflected the Italian. “Even after 22 years I still love my job but it is a stressful life. Between testing and racing there really is no break.”

“You do it because you have a passion, and it’s not a normal job. It was actually quite hard when we announced it because of all the messages from people that worked for me. I was very pleased to see that you leave to everyone a good memory.”

“There comes a point in your life that you need to balance yourself a bit better. I think it was about time to balance my life a bit better.”

“There was a new opportunity coming that actually would bring new experience on my profile. It was a difficult decision, and I was putting all the plus and minus in a table like any engineer does!”

“At this point of my life, it was a bit more the plus than the minus to make the change. It was a very hard though and it was a stressful decision because I love what I’m doing. I love the people that I work with. I love the company that I work for.”

Variety Is the Spice of Life

Marinelli has also loved the variety of work that he has done for the team.

Having started as a calibrator, moving to the US to work in AMA as a technician, returning to Europe to win titles with Neil Hodgson and Troy Bayliss as their crew chiefs, before finally becoming the project leader for the Ducati Superbike program, it was a rapid rise and a memorable ride.

“The racing environment is a drug. We were all born with a little fuel in our blood. In racing, it is an extreme situation, and you have to deal with everything in a very quick way. It is exciting and it keeps your adrenaline up.”

“It is also something that demands a lot of your life. At some point you also have to realize that there is the needs to be that balance. I have done it for a long time and it has been amazing but you have move on and try to challenge yourself on a new adventure.

“Ducati has been growing as a company in recent years and of course the structure of the company becomes more complicated as it grows. You need to do more things. You have a lot more people to manage. We are now we are back up to speed in all classes and that proves that the job is being done right.”

New rules, new times

While for the first time in a decade Ducati’s WorldSBK program will be led by someone other than Marinelli the future also sees uncertainty. For 2018 there will be a raft of new regulations aimed at reining in the speed of the Ducati and Kawasaki machines. It is something that the Italian knows will be a difficult balancing act for the regulators.

“The new regulations are not an easy situation to solve. With any modification that you do, there is always a risk and a reward. I think that at the moment the current competitive situation is because of the different level of involvement of each manufacturer.”

“That investment brings a different performance spectrum because of course the more you dedicate resources or whatever, the more performance you get out of it.”

“It’s a very difficult situation because then if you change some other regulation or you set up a system that equalizes too much the level, of course it’s good for the spectators at home, but if you look at it as the manufacturer’s point of view, why are you racing? You’re racing because you want to win.”

“You want to prove that your product is better than the others. Already what we experienced with the Panigale was very frustrating because we build the Panigale with a specific target to have the lightest bike on the market, and it was. It was like ten kilo lighter than any other bike in superbike.”

“But then we ended up racing it with more weight than before. So, what you’re spending more the production bike was completely banished by the regulation.”

“It can be a very thin line of defining the border between the benefits of racing and the competitiveness of what you can do. To have good races, but also balance the interest that every manufacturer is putting to run in the championship, is a very difficult situation.”

With a new V4 Ducati having already been tested by Casey Stoner Ducati will continue to lead the way in WorldSBK even if they will have a new leader at controls.

Riders Through Ernie’s Career

“I am still in contact with all the riders I worked with and still talk regularly by message or a phone call. Over the years I have had the honor of working with some truly special riders and special people.”

Carl Fogarty: “I worked indirectly with Foggy in the initial stage of my career. I was just taking care of the engine calibration for him, and not working as his technician. Foggy has been one of the most incredible riders to watch. When he shut his helmet for the race, he was like a different person. He could do things that were incredible.”

Anthony Gobert: “We set so many track records that year in ’98 and ’99, and some remained for three or four years. He was so talented and I can remember going to Daytona and he was a second a lap quicker then the rest. In practice he wasn’t fast and we kept asking what was wrong or what do we need to change? He said, ‘Nothing, the bike is good.” During first qualifying he did a couple of slow laps and came into the pits and said he wanted a qualifying tire. He destroyed the track record and with 45 minutes to go he sat back in the pit box.

Ben Bostrom: “I did three years in the AMA championship, and when we shut the program at the end of 2000, I came back with Ben Bostrom. Ben was one of my riders in America and I have some great memories that I will never, never forget. At Laguna in ’99 when we wildcarded in WorldSBK and took our first double win with Gobert and Bostrom. We were first and second in Race 1 and Ben won Race 2.”

John Kocinski: “I worked with John in 2000, and technically he was the most precise and unique rider that I ever worked with. His feedback was amazing and he was the rider that taught me the most about what you can’t learn from a book. He taught me how you translate feelings from the bike into a technical modification. You know the dynamics of the bike, but nobody tells you what the rider is feeling when you do a change. John was incredible for that and he could feel half a millimeter on the bike and can tell you exactly what change you made.”

Neil Hodgson: “I won my first world title with Neil, and I always have a very special relationship with him. We really understand each other just by looking in the eye. The 2003 championship was an amazing season. I was sad when he moved on following the season, but of course a rider wants to be in MotoGP.”

Troy Bayliss: “My time with Troy was very, very special. It started when we won the championship in 2006, but that year was memorable because of Valencia. We were called a week before the final MotoGP of the season to race. That weekend has been the most incredible in my career. It was definitely the longest race that I have to watch. It was a big moment for Troy and myself to go in and prove people wrong.”

Chaz Davies: “The Panigale was a difficult project in the beginning, so when Chaz won at Aragon in 2015 it was really, really special. I have always trusted the talent that Chaz has. I like his style. I think all these years that we pass together we won many races. We didn’t get the title, but we have had a great time. We have had some really successful races together as well.”

What Makes Up the Perfect Ducati Racer?

Having worked with a “who’s who” of Ducati stars, what is it that separates each of them?

Every rider is special in his own way. As an engineer you learn about how much of a difference the rider’s personality makes to performance.

So much of engineering is numerically based though; trial and error finds the best answers. How an engineer approaches each problem and how they communicate with the people around them becomes crucial.

For Marinelli it was key to understand that you share happiness when you win, and frustration when you lose with the riders. How you need to adapt and work with each rider is different just as any relationship from one person to another.

“When I was a race engineer, it is the most direct relationship you can have with a rider,” reflected the Italian. “There is a strong bond between you and the rider because you win and lose together. You share every right decision, wrong decision and every frustration of how you do on track.”

“There is always a gamble in racing because you don’t always have all the data to decide what to do. Sometimes you have to go with your instinct or a feeling. You have to go with what you trust and experienced in the past is going to work or not.”

“This trust grows with each race and each test that you have with the rider. With each rider it’s different, but every rider I worked with gave me something that then helped me with the next rider I worked with.”

Having Worked with an Array of Riders What Was Special About Them?

“John Kocinski is the most precise rider I ever worked with. He could give incredible feedback on any change that was made to his bike. Troy Bayliss was a completely different rider.”

“He couldn’t tell you exactly what is wrong or what needs to be done, but he was unique because every time he goes on track he’s pushing at 100%!”

“He was probably the rider that was actually the best to develop a bike. He was very clear and if you made a change and if he was faster it was better, if he was slower it was worse. That is kind of a simple thing that seems obvious, but I can guarantee you that it’s not at all.”

“For many other riders, they ride on feelings, and if they didn’t like the feel from a modification, they can’t push. As an engineer, you don’t see if it’s better or not because of that, but with Troy he was quite special because it happened a lot of times that he came in and said ‘I don’t really like it at all, but I’m faster so let’s stick with it.'”

“On the other side of the coin he could say ‘I like it a lot, but I’m slower, so it’s not working.’ That is a very good information for the technician that I have to stay behind.”

“With Neil Hodgson we did great work in developing the bike because he was very precise. His style was completely different than Bayliss for example.”

“Troy doesn’t care if the bike is moving, is unstable or whatever because he’d just move his body and compensate. He just cares about if the lap time is coming.”

“Neil on the other side was a very precise rider. He wanted the bike to be very, very stable, especially on the entry of the corner. So also the setup that you have to work on to make it give the trust for him to push.”

“Chaz is a very aggressive rider, and he’s definitely the strongest rider on the brakes that I’ve ever known. I think that nobody can brake later than him. The most difficult part on the technical side is that no matter what, he’s going to brake very hard.”

“He has always said this is where I want to brake and if the bike then doesn’t allow me to turn, you need to fix it. I like that attitude.”

“I think we have been able to interpret his style and transform the bike in order to allow him to brake that late and still allow him to get to the corner right. This is progressively the work that we can do in these years.

“I’ve learned that the magic setup does not exist. What only exists is the setup that makes the rider feel right to be able to take the bike to the limit. This could be completely opposite from one rider to the other.”

“Sometimes you see the setup sheet for two riders and they are completely different, but they can set the same time. What is important for a rider is just to be able to get the feeling he needs to be able to do things correctly.”

Historic Season in BSB and on the Roads for Ducati

The 2017 season saw Ducati achieve success away from WorldSBK, with Shane Byrne claiming a historic sixth British Superbike title. The title came on the back of one of the most incredible final rounds of the season, as Byrne overcame a 33-point deficit to Leon Haslam with two rounds remaining.

“Over the last number of years, we haven’t had an involvement in BSB due to a lot of factors. The biggest is that you have to use a completely different electronic package.”

“We didn’t have a strong partnership with the team like we had in the past. For the last two years, we’ve been doing an amazing job with Paul Bird, and we are very, very happy about the team, with the relationship that we have with them. Shakey has been racing for many years and we all know how talented he is.”

“This year was very special because it was like a Mission Impossible at the final round. To arrive there with two races to go but 33 points behind meant it was not on the paper an easy thing to bring home.”

“But fortunately for the team and Shakey, they did an incredible job throughout the weekend. He is being very, very strong since the beginning. Luckily it was good enough to win the title.”

Alongside Byrne has been Northern Irishman Glenn Irwin. The former British Supersport front-runner has been able to achieve wins on the roads and the track this year but it was his historic week of success at the International Northwest 200 that was the stand out moment for Marinelli.