PETRUCCI LOVING LIFE
Factory star is peaking,
New official Ducati factory rider Danilo Petrucci, who spent 2018 in the satellite Pramac Ducati squad, has been revealing the benefits of full works status.
These days, as many closelylinked satellite teams actually enjoy the same hardware as their official counterparts, the biggest difference is not in the bikes but in the behindthe-scenes back-up.
For example, both Petrucci and Brit Cal Crutchlow rode, respectively, a factory spec Ducati and Honda, but for satellite teams, in 2018. Instead, the main benefit of full factory status comes from the elaborate support structures and amount of personnel in place to make sure their riders get everything they want.
Working with teams of backroom engineers rarely seen by fans, factory riders have dozen of people analysing and supporting their every move. That’s in stark contrast to even the biggest independent teams, where they’re often supported by a team of, at most, five or six people, and perhaps one official engineer on loan from the factory.
But Petrucci told MCN that after only two tests with his new team, he’s already feeling the benefits of all those extra personnel.
“The Pramac team was a very good team, the best of the independent teams, but we don’t have the same amount of Ducati engineers in the box. We had full Ducati support, but the engineers behind the garage work for the two factory bikes. Now you talk with an engineer about the chassis, another about the electronics and the engine, and they give you a lot of information and you give them a lot. “You have more people watching your data and when you try something new and you struggle with it, maybe they’ll say something like ‘Yes you’re slower but in some areas, you’re faster.’ When you come into the garage there’s so many people where as up until now I only had my crew chief. Now with all the extra personnel doing their jobs it means my crew chief can concentrate on the track set-up and leave the development to the other engineers.”
‘When you come into the garage there’s so many people’