The single most important factor why you chose Öhlins?
Well, there is a long partnership between Yamaha and Öhlins and we have worked very close together for many years and we know each other very well. Every year there is a development and improvement of the Öhlins products and this is good and very important.
Another thing is that the Yamaha factory is in direct contact with Öhlins’ engineers, so there is a very good exchange of experience and feedback. To have Öhlins’ technicians working in our team on the race weekends is fantastic and they bring back feedback which means a continous development. This means that the engineers back in the factory have a very good knowledge of what we need and how we can improve the full package.
We have won quite a few championships in the past so it seems to work.
Is it hard to be a team manager with so many eager suppliers that constantly come up with new technologies? Any problems keeping the performance stability?
All new products are presented and evaluated back in the Yamaha Racing factory. Normally they give requests to the Öhlins engineers of the areas where we need to improve the suspension and we also have an exchange of opinion.
There is a lot of synergy and interaction between the two companies and normally we start to test the new prototypes in the end of the season after the last race.
Most of the time we have special tests concerning the suspension area so we test new forks, new shocks or new inside systems depending on the development phase and the ongoing process.
During the winter season, which is very important, we evaluate whether the new technology works or if we decide to use the old suspension setup.
Normally we are in constant progress and the comments from the riders are very important too.
What would you like to see more of when it comes to Öhlins and the suspension that is on your bikes? Any dreams that you want Öhlins to deliver for you?
I will not go into a complicated technical discussion because I am not the right person, but I am sure that our development engineers have some dreams, and I am certain that they have an ongoing discussion with the Öhlins engineer and that Öhlins will deliver whatever they need.
This year is particularly difficult because we have Valentino Rossi and now also Jorge Lorenzo – the two biggest, talented riders, and they both want to win and they have a lot of needs and requests, so in order to give them the package which would enable them to win all the components must be at the maximum. This, of course, covers the suspension as well.
Such talented riders with such a winning spirit keep all the technicians under a constant pressure. First of all they push Yamaha to develop but of course the suspension, the brakes and all other suppliers need to progress and deliver top products.
Our dream is that Öhlins will always have the answer.
Could you give all bikers that will read this article the three most important parts of a bike that would increase the quality of the ride the most when changed?
It depends on the owner of the bike and what they are looking for. Maybe they are looking for performance, maybe they look for styling or feeling and sensation. To me these are the three most important areas.
If you want to get more performance you normally tune your engine, for example by changing the exhaust, which is the easiest component to change.
Styling is of course important and you can try to personalize it with particular stickers or maybe change the colour.
And when it comes to the feeling of the bike the suspension is one of the most important things. It is kind of a luxury dream to buy better suspension, because they are quite expensive. To put a good suspension on your street bike is a good investment and the owners usually look very proud when they have bought new suspension.
Do you have a bike back home?
No personal bike… but I of course like bikes. Since I am getting old the one that I use the most is a T-max scooter, because it is good and convenient in the summer when I go to the beach. It is fast too if you want to ride on the highway, so it is a very good compromise.
Sometimes we take a dirt bike and go to ride motocross on easy tracks.
What is the greatest thing about being a technical Team Manager for Yamaha Racing?
The thing I like the most is the race… the 45 minute race on Sunday… from 2 o’clock to 3 o’clock. This hour is the key… it is full of emotions. Either you win or you lose. At the end of the day we are here for those eighteen 45 minute races to win the championship in the end of the season. Those 45 minutes is the thing that I like the most.
How is it like working with the Öhlins technicians? Are they any different?
I have always worked with Yamaha and Öhlins so I actually have nothing to compare with. We are very happy with Öhlins’ technicians and I have very good experience from my 11 years in Superbike and now 7 years in MotoGP and they have all been nice people.
I personally do not find my way around the garage but I have understood that telemetry is a huge help for you to evaluate a race… but how many decisions are still based on the riders’ own feelings?
Yes, there are more and more computer systems today on the bikes, but at the end of the day the rider’s opinion is the most important. As technician you can see and get the feeling of a certain moment and you can also identify a problem, but you need the confirmation from and opinion of the riders.
You need the riders’ agreement to change something that you might see in the data recording.
So the computors are very good at identifying a problem, but to solve the problem you still need manpower. The engineers and technicians still need the human mind thinking and deciding. The computor is a very important tool but it is of course not enough.. the computor is stupid and just does what you tell it to do.
The rider and human mind can make the solution that is suitable for the situation.